Memorial Day 2013
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| © 2013 joseph ivan long |
to explore, make music and merry;
to marry and love and make art
and babies;
to play and work and sing from our souls to the starryspangly skies;
to speak our minds from every angle
with the protections guaranteed us on a piece of Paper signed by 18th century gentlemen;
to run free and worship freely and honor the right
of infants to double-octogenarians to raise their fists and voices.
Privileges we enjoy;
privileges that became rights as blood was leaked while others drank tea, ate cake,
and fiddled merry as freedoms of many kinds were fought for in foxholes.
And white-clad uniforms with red crosses scurried amongst the carnage,
bringing some home,
and others to a bed beneath the earth.
It's one thing to read history.
It's another to make it.
A day a year doesn't seem like much of a return gift.
But today, please accept those two simple words that every child should grow up knowing:
Thank you.