This weekend, those of us in the US will celebrate our Independence Day. In honor of the occasion, I have written the following poem:

Anthem of the Ordinary

We are old

Backs bent from the weight of time

Faces charted by the past

Joints swollen and arteries clogged

Vulnerability wrapped in parchment skin

We are the middlin’

Level pegging with age

Beginning to repay the debts our of youth

Bellies full and hand layered with calluses 

On a hill, shoring up a breaking bridge

We are young

Spending an endless supply of days

Standing tall, crowded with life

Fooled by a mirage of immortality

Stalked by silent killers serving time

We are children

Nascent in knowledge

Trusting our protectors

Teetering on the edge of a lifetime

Bright stars on a new horizon clouded by the smog of doubt

We are the People

Divided

Falling to an invisible enemy

Sacrificed by those worshipping at a green and orange altar

Holding onto self-evident truths

a scrap of cloth between life and needless suffering

Created equal

Old and young, middlin’ and child

Cut down by a blind Reaper’s scythe 

Endowed by Liberties and Pursuits

Tarnishing the Golden Rule with selfish coats of another’s ash

We the People

Lean against our Declaration

The founding principal ordaining our safety

Our strong Constitution

Promoting the general welfare

Endowed by the Better Angels of our nature

Tasked by Divine Providence as our brother’s keeper

Meet on a new battlefield

A scrap of cloth is our banner

For future’s security

Prosperity

Freedom and Independence.

12 score and four years on

We the People

Rededicated to our unfinished work

Devoted to our cause

Asking what we can do for our fellow countrymen

Pledging our energy and faith to this new fight

Stand united