And Yet I Am
By Ruth Y. Nott
Copyright 2002
I am not a native American
although I was born here
and grew here
and know no other home.
And yet I am called
by the beat and the touch
of the earth to my feet
and the scent of the campfire.
I am not a native American
although I live and breathe
and would die
for the right to love her.
Just as you who knew
her first would fall to ground
embracing Mother's soul,
so would I revere her now.
I am not a native American
although the spirit lives
within me
and rises to be heard.
And yet, as I sing
a prayer into the wind
for peace and understanding,
I still think America hears.
