INDEPENDENCE DAY
The wind and you played in my hair,
You lambent in the moon,
The night arranged as by design,
Mysteriously boon.
Afresh the breeze and warm our hands,
So lately introduced,
Traced so gently new found lands,
From tyranny aloosed.
While all around with fire and bang
Our freedom was proclaimed,
A nation’s liberty was meant,
To us, two hearts unchained.
Notes
July Fourth holds special meaning for me. I’m patriotic in the old fashioned way. I still believe that America is exceptional, and has been an exceptional blessing to the world.
Our founding documents are exceptional in the history of mankind, and the men who wrote them were inspired by truly great ideas.
The big idea: That rights are given by God, and not some king or the government. That’s important, because what government gives, government can take away. But the genius of the Founding Fathers was to see that our rights are granted by God, and thus “inalienable.”
I still get a lump in the throat when the national anthem is played.
But beyond this, my personal affection for July Fourth goes back to 1982, when a young couple snuck to the roof of the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis to watch the fireworks. This perch, high above Lake Calhoun, offered a 360 degree view of the entire Twin Cities area. You could see several fireworks displays from there, both near and far away.
It was rather romantic.
Poetic Champions 