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.
