Still Becoming
A Poem for the USA on Her 250th Birthday
Every Fourth of July I return to the same question. Why do I love this country when it so often breaks my heart? Perhaps because love has never meant approval. The people we love disappoint us. Families disappoint us. Even the prairie burns, floods and withers. Yet every spring it begins again, not because last year was perfect, but because life insists on growing. Our country began that way too. Young and determined, bold enough to imagine governing ourselves, yet unable to imagine freedom for everyone. The founders were neither heroes nor villains. They challenged a king while leaving so many voices unheard. Like most young people, we grew quickly and often carelessly, mistaking expansion for wisdom, taking more than we should, leaving wounds that still ask to be acknowledged. But that is not the whole story. Over generations, the circle widened because ordinary people refused to leave it as they found it. Women insisted. Formerly enslaved people insisted. Immigrants, workers, neighbors, dreamers. Again and again someone pulled another chair to the table. Now we are older. Still hopeful. Still opinionated. Still divided. Still trying. We celebrate. We grieve. We march. We vote. Some days it feels as though we are losing one another. Then I remember the prairie. Its strength has never been what rises above the ground. It is the roots, woven together, holding fast through drought, through fire, through seasons that seem impossible to survive. Perhaps nations grow that way too. Not because they escape failure, but because they choose to keep growing. So today, as fireworks bloom against the summer sky and children run laughing with sparklers in their hands, I ask a different question. Not whether America was ever great, but whether I am willing to help make her better. Whether we are. Perhaps that has always been our promise. Not perfection. Not arrival. Only the enduring, unfinished work of becoming.
Image Note: This illustration depicts the legendary moment when Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, known as Molly Pitcher, takes over firing a cannon after her husband collapses during the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. A soldier carrying the American flag emerges through the smoke behind her, reinforcing the themes of courage, sacrifice, and patriotism. Created by H. Weston Taylor for Kate Dickinson Sweetser's Ten American Girls from History (1917), the work reflects the dramatic, patriotic style of the early twentieth century. Originally published as a full-color book illustration, it is now in the public domain.
Pushcart Nomination Announcement
My deepest gratitude to the Iowa Poetry Association and Lyrical Iowa 2026 for including my poem “Women With Plants” as one of their Pushcart Prize nominees. This poem was recently recognized with Lyrical Iowa’s Grant Wood Award, as it was inspired by his painting of the same name (above). It is overwhelming to be nominated for the most honored literary project in America. Since 1976, hundreds of presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays have been represented in Pushcart’s annual collections (Info: http://pushcartprize.com.) It is an honor to be nominated
Please join me in congratulating my fellow nominees:
Janvier Abramowitz, Coralville - “Adagio”
Suzanna de Baca, Huxley - “Women With Plants”
Margaret Hamilton, Jefferson - “What is a Burl?”
Millie Malone Lill, Denison - “I am not a diamond”
Linda Paul, Iowa City - “Never”
Maeva Shriner, Des Moines - “Accounting”
I’ll share the poem when the anthology is published in the fall!
“BEST SELLER” POETRY BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! My new poetry collection, You Were Never Lost: Poems from the Tallgrass Prairie, was recently released and is now officially a best seller in the “Death/Grief/Loss” poetry category. Thank you for your many notes sharing what the poems have meant to you.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR AMES, IOWA EVENT: KHOI and Ames Writers Writers Collective will be hosting a book launch event in Ames on July 9, 7 PM at KHOI. Details below.
WHERE TO GET THE BOOK: The book is available locally through Beaverdale Booksand through major online booksellers, including Amazon and Goodreads.
REVIEWS REQUESTED! And if you do read it, one of the kindest things you can do for an independent author is leave a short review on Amazon or Goodreads. To leave a review, simply go to the book’s page on Amazon or Goodreads, click on “Write a Review” or “Rate and Review,” and share a few sentences about what resonated with you. It does not need to be long or formal. Even a few sentences helps other readers discover the book.
EVENTS: If you know of events focused on this topic or groups who might find this collections of interest, please let me know.
Congrats on making the best seller list!
thank you Suzanna for perfectly expressing my mixed, yet hopeful, feelings of what today means for those of us of a certain age.