Half Staffs - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

D-Day and The Fourth
Bookends of a month
In the life of the Nation
The death of a President

Reminders each day
Against blue sky or grey
Of sacrifices, and lives lost
Defending our rights

Freedom isn’t free
The media doesn’t see
The good of the troops
In those lands of sand and
Minarets, martyrs
And madmen

Freedom, food, water, hope
On the line, in the chaos,
In the storm, in the desert,
In the streets of Baghdad

Snap in the breeze, or limp on the cord
Sentries marking the honor
To a man, I didn’t support
But honor, nonetheless
For his optimism, faith
In this place, this idea

The rightness of our dream
Lost for so long in the malaise
The hurt from Dallas to Tehran

On guard still,
Our finest in the field
Pawns or patriots, whatever your view

Remember to vote, to have a say
To remember them all

Snap to attention,
And pledge allegiance
To this nation

For it’s the best hope
As Reagan knew, and we do too
So whether half staff or whole
We remember the call,
The duty we share,

To herald the hope,
The dream we hold dear
This Fourth and all year.

Writtten 6/28/04 9:33pm
Edited 7/5/04 16:36, based on the way I did the reading at the Agape Café section of the Wesley United Methodist Church 4th of July celebration