The children are laughing and screaming delight
At the sounds of the firecrackers, day and night.
The beautiful colors of freedom appear,
With bursts of bright colors high in the air!
I know how they're feeling. I once was a kid.
Maybe not so elaborate but, I did what they did.
We laughed and we shouted, our freedom assured
Because of what patriots and soldiers endured.
In another land, the sounds that the firecrackers make
Would fill all with fear of another mistake;
In a land where the laughter is only from knaves,
As they torture and lead humans to their own graves.
In a land where their torture is sick to the core,
You hear, are amazed; for some suffered more.
Was it human minds that thought up these acts?
Surely, no human could make such attacks.
A culture set free, once again, cost our blood.
Will the people there pay, realizing the good
That was the gift of American lassies and lads,
Of children who did without Mothers or Dads?
Will they thank, will they praise, will they set aside days
To remember the brave boys who paid; ~ offer praise?
The world hears the pleas, as the good Book says,
"Peace, Peace!" and the rest of that phrase.
The Peacemakers cry, and so it should be,
"Peace! Peace! and be truly free!
Peacemakers, rise to the ultimate call;
Children of God, blest freedom for all!"
2000 © Joan Clifton Costner