Our Flag | June 14, 2020

I’m known by many names: Old Glory
The Stars and Stripes
The Star Spangled Banner
The Red White and Blue
That Grand Old Flag

I demand care, respect and honor.
I stand for all that we citizens hold dear:
Freedom and Democracy
Our government — OF, BY, and FOR the People.
That’s Us!
I represent a living country.

Citizen soldiers follow the flag into battle
“Some carry the flag in peaceful protest
And sometimes not so peaceful.”

From that huge banner
That flies over the Capitol Dome
and in all 50 states,
To the flag posted at the door
of the most modest home,

To the flag draped over a fallen hero
To the flag waved by children at parades —
Wherever flying, its glory does not fade.

Flying overhead, no matter how high the steeple
The flag stands for “We the People.”
Size is not relevant, the flag’s message is evident.
The large flag proclaims Liberty
But the little one does too.
Even the small one in a child’s hand
HURRAY for the Red White and Blue!

Long may it wave
“O’er the Land of the Free,
the Home of the Brave.”
Our Nation to save.

Picture of Joan M. Lacombe

Joan M. Lacombe

Aiken’s Poet Laureate 2019
Picture of Joan M. Lacombe

Joan M. Lacombe

Aiken’s Poet Laureate 2019

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