On July 4th, 1776, the second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. This document announced our independence from England and marked the birth of The United States of America.
Since Americans celebrated the birth of our country on Thursday last week, I thought I’d share a poem I wrote about July 4th years ago, when my daughter was about five (she’s 19 now 😮). “Happy Birthday, USA” is part of my first book, The Wind and the Shadows.
Happy Birthday, USA
On the Fourth of July
my daughter and I
drive across town,
park on a hill,
and watch this year’s
fireworks display.
It starts off, literally,
with a bang:
A white-hot stem
snakes up into the clouds
like Jack’s beanstalk,
then bursts in a bright-blue bloom.
Purple plumes,
white cascading bells,
orange POP! POP! Poppies,
and other varieties
flower in fire
as a pyrotechnic garden
flourishes
before our very eyes.
On the other side
of the street,
a drunken round of “Happy Birthday”
erupts
as some people raise beer cans
to America.
For a moment,
a red rocket bursting in the air
glares with me.
But then I join in the song,
adding a high harmony
to their melody.
Sweet land of liberty…
of thee
I sing.
A Wandering Minstrel 