Sunday, July 20, 2014

Soul Freedom

Roger Williams
who founded the state
of Rhode Island
in 1636 for religious freedom

who in 1643 wrote
"A Key into the Language of America"

marking the first study
of an American Indian language
(mostly of Algonquin Narragansett)
in English

as well as a deliberate effort
to acknowledge the Other

probably should be referenced
in the news of late

given the pertinence
of his values
to our world today

and maybe even the United States

with its vitally important
separation of church and state
and all

so here is at least one.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.