America is…

Photo: John Fowler, flickr

Ouch, I commented, when a friend shared a poem by the British poet Brian Bilston, “America is a Gun.” (It’s posted on his public Facebook page here.) My reaction was visceral, for guns bring forth so many emotions from Americans. I’ve shot a gun before – at a target, mind – but that fact might shock some of my British friends. Yet having lived away from the States for so many years, hearing the news reports of shooting after shooting, I now wonder why we can’t get some laws passed to stop the senseless deaths. And I know that some of my American gun-supporting friends and relatives won’t agree with that statement.

But when I read Brian’s poem yesterday morning, I didn’t know the background about Jeb Bush’s tweet, showing his monogrammed gun with the statement, “America.” That’s what’s behind the poem, and as Brian said on his Facebook page:

I LOVE America – and all the Americans I’ve met. This was written in response to Jeb Bush’s gun tweet… These are crass symbols, many of which were posted on Twitter last night – in humour – by nationals from those countries in response to Jed Bush’s America tweet. I can understand how this might be misinterpreted without that background.

A writer and poet heard my Ouch and it niggled her all day. She wrote this lovely poem in response, for which I’m profoundly grateful:

What is America to you? And/or, what is your home country?

Keren Dibbens-Wyatt is a Christian mystic, writer and contemplative-creative with a passion for prayer and the edification of women. She longs to draw others into deeper relationships with the Lord through all she does. Keren suffers with M.E. and struggle with much of life, due to very limited energy and mobility – but God is always in this with her. Keren lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in the U.K. You can connect with Keren at her website: http://www.kerendibbenswyatt.com.