Two Centuries Later

Poom! Green, red, blue and white

Stars glitter briefly in the night

Poom!  A whistle-scream through the darkness,

Brilliance blossoms, fade down the sky.

Poom!  Eyes glowing.

Children’s giggled delight,

A happy sigh.

Poom!  Once a year we celebrate

With sparklers, firecrackers in the summer air.

Deep slumber memory

Stirs and wakes dreams of years long past—

Poom!  White fire traces down the blackness of night

Screams and whimpers echo in the hills.

Poom!  Flares burst above the trees

Blood red burns the light,

Blue and red lie fallen on the battleground.

Then dawn.  A summer sky.

Heat waves rise too early from the cobbled streets,

A distant nearing march sounds beyond the town.

Poom!  A palm slams on a desk in Philadelphia

A pen scratches the first name upon the parchment there.

Poom!  Two centuries later

The yellowing parchment reminds a nation:

With flickers in the night sky,

Sparks of remembered battlefire–

Poom! Two centuries later,

The United States of America July 4, 1976.