From Ground Zero
The Enormity of the Sadness
The people of this nation
are bonded not by blood
or religion,
Not by language,
or race
But by an idea,
a solemn belief in freedom
The liberty of every human being.
It is not perfect,
but it is still young
Like a boy in the schoolyard,
inexperienced
Absent hundreds of years experience,
sometimes brazen
Arrogantly complaining of dry bread
when the child beside him has none
Sometimes sullen,
weeping at the loss of his own innocence
Yet pure at heart
and well-intentioned
The freckles on his face
no less quaint than those
of the worldly people to which he belongs
For each of us owe our prosperity,
however feeble or great,
to the blood of another in a foreign land
who braved death
to choose freedom
over circumstance.
Posted by Amanda at July 18, 2003 09:41 PM
