Show Your Colors

Show your colors loud and proud to
Watch them soar with glory.
View with eyes that chase the prize of
Passions age-old story.
 
Let your flag unfurl with flourish
To a brash brass band to
Inspire the spirit of the masses
All throughout the hinterland.
 
With red on white on white on red
The purest rays of valor shine as
Starlight dusts a field of blue
Where faith and justice intertwine.
 
The peerless quest of freedom’s child
Glides towering on eagles wings
Inspiring loyal partisans
As throngs of grateful choirs sing.
 
And though she be not faultless
In her bearing or her scope,
She is still the perfect symbol of
Unending boundless hope.

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Freedom

Freedom is a hummingbird,
Fleeting, fast and fragile with
Bright wings that sing in rhythmic dreams
The perfect jewel of joyful faith,
Seeking out the beautiful, the
Flowing flowers of the field,
To drink the nectar of her bloom and
All her gifts disseminate.
 
Freedom is a golden eagle
Sailing on a wafting zephyr,
Unencumbered by the straining
Baleful bonds of gravity.
Confident that none may rise to
Purloin his emancipation.
Soaring over mountains high
He sets his own alternatives.
 
Freedom is a mountaintop
Rising where no roads may tread,
Wearing robes of purest white while
Bleeding rivers rife with hope.
Tendrils flush with provender
Reaching meadows near and far
To nurture countless leas of flowers
And feed sweet freedoms hummingbird.
 

For Family

“Were you in the war, Grandpa?” Tommy queried.
“Yes, I was, son,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“Mommy says war is bad, she says it’s evil.”
“Yes, son, it is. It’s a horrible task.”
 
“Does that mean you’re bad, Grandpa? Why did you go?”
“It’s hard to explain,” he said, “But let me try”
Hard to defend why the young and the innocent
Rush to a cause where so many might die.
 
“Nobody wants war,” he says with a sigh, “but
Sometimes you just have no choice.
When enemies threaten the ones you love
Someone must stand to give them a voice.
We have to protect. We need to defend
Against those who would take our freedom away.
You’re young and it’s a mystery right now,
But you’ll grow and you’ll understand someday.”
 
He paused for a moment, then softly he spoke.
“I’ll tell you one thing for sure that is true.
You want to know why I fought in the war?
I did it for family.
I did it for you.”

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A Grateful Nation

A grateful nation welcomes home her heroes
When the fight is done,
Reaching deep to heal the wounds of war
So they might carry on.

A grateful nation mourns the loss of
Those who paid the final price,
Comforts those they left behind
In honor of their sacrifice.

A grateful nation knows that freedom
Must be bought by blood and sweat.
Forging on with confidence,
No second guessing, no regrets.

A grateful nation prays, although the gift
Is oft misunderstood.
A psalm of praise to one on high
Whose grace provides all that is good.

A grateful nation will not falter,
Will not waiver on its course,
Seeks to lift the people’s spirit,
Moving on with no remorse.

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Basic Soldier

Not for glory, fame or fortune,
Not for gratitude or praise
The basic soldier serves in silence
With a watchful steely gaze.
 
Not a slave to needless causes,
Just a cog on grinding gear that
Keeps the locomotive charging forward
Without doubt or fear.
 
Some may speak of God and country,
Friends and family, hearth and home,
But when the bombs of battle rage
The soldier never stands alone.
 
Brothers bold and sisters stoic,
Banded by a single bond,
Sing the same brave song of freedom
Marching, marching ever on.
 
Hail and greet the basic soldier.
Millions now, millions then,
Millions when their cause is noble.
Shall we see their like again?
 
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Open the Cages

Open the cages and
Let loose the lions.
Set free the spirit that
Nature bequeaths to
Rule vast domain and
Roar into the fury,
To know the sweet victory
Freedom affirms.
 
Dangerous prospect in
Waking the beast whose
Heart knows no fear,
Whose angst knows no peace.
An unsated hunger that
Drives ever forward
Giving no quarter,
Accepting no terms.
 
Open the cages of life
If you dare.
Challenge all foes,
Let the full world beware.
 
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To Weather the Storm

Caught in the maelstrom of twisted confusion,
Fickle chameleon dancing to dirges of
Lonely lost causes, so long forgotten,
Misbegotten paltry plans.
 
Tightly attuned to the vast range of changes
All muddled and muddied by dark empty urges,
Hiding in corners, alone and ashamed,
Unable to think, unwilling to stand.
 
Too long the victim.
          Yes, far too long to
Writhe in these shadows while Satan cajoles and
Controls every nuance, first to last,
As quivering fools suffer under his hand.
 
Now is the time and here is the station where
Heroes stand tall and courage unfolds
Like an unfurling flag defying the wind to
Inspire the spirit, boasting command.
 
Shielding the precious, the cherished from harm,
Finding safe harbor to weather the storm.

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