Freedom

Freedom.

Obfuscated by empty rhetoric

On the right and left;

Blurred by vacuous slogans:

"Freedom is not free;"

Overshadowed by plows gone silent;

Abandoned for olive drabs and desert khakis;

Drowned out by a staccato of sound bites;

Held hostage by want and avarice;

Crippled by demagogues and vacant ideologies.

Freedom.

But it also rings.

From sunny slopes in California,

To the archipelagos in the Carolinas;

From prodigous New Hampshire hills,

To that Stone Mountain in Georgia.

Freedom.

It also marches,

Head held high and proud, 

Bestowing blessings of free speech and expression;

Offering the opportunity to believe or not to believe;

Vigilantly guarding against the wolves of the night,

Want and ignorance.

Freedom.

It is unalienable and irrefutable,

Protecting life, liberty and opportunity;

Judging, yes,

But on the content of character,

And the merit of the mind,

Not on the color of skin,

Or the gender of a partner,

Or the bulk of a wallet,

Or the barrel of a gun.

Freedom.

It should be cherished and held dear.

It is ours,

If we can keep it.