"we hold these truths to be self-evident ... that nature, to all persons, endows natural rights ... among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ..." † ~ banner (histories : 4) oh say, can you see? darkness burdens hearts throughout our land and truths for which we once did proudly stand have split into divided loyalty by the dawn's early light where masked and vengeful agents are deployed in peaceful city streets, there are destroyed our long established norms of wrong and right what so proudly we hailed in times past, now seems all but lost and makes us bear the fateful cost when just and righteous institutions failed at the twilight's last gleaming the shapes of bursting bombs have changed to drones unloosed by twisted minds deranged oh, hear the voice of every heartbreak screaming ! ~ my country, 'tis of thee i sing bemoaning this, thy present reckoning i bid thee cast aside this latter fate once more reclaim thy grand and noble state ~ oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave which held all human rights self-evident and placed them at the core of government ? such declarations we must work to save o'er the land of the free let voices free arise and thence be heard for 'tis the very meaning of the word true both for native born and refugee and the home of the brave once more proclaims, thy banner proud unfurled a light that stands as promise to the world : here none is master, and no one is slave ~ my country, 'tis of thee i sing bemoaning this, thy present reckoning i bid thee cast aside this latter fate once more reclaim thy grand and noble state with deep compassion always close at hand let liberty a light in harbours stand to welcome masses yearning to breathe free pray may that be the country that we see ~ ... my country ... rjh 8mar2026 ~ † adapted from thomas jefferson, "the declaration of independence" (in congress, july 4, 1776) nb : i don't generally write songs, let alone protest songs ... i write sonnets, or what pass for sonnets : this was written in march, at what then seemed peak crazy :: there are a few proper sonnets to follow ... in honor of a truly remarkable anniversary : god bless america @ 250 ... 🙏 special thanks to 𝒜.𝐼. 𝑅𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇'𝟩𝟤 for inspiring me to post this ... guitars :: prs : angelus, hollowbody ii, custom 24
