POEM AND PHOTO BY ED NORTHEN

A celebration of redemption

from tyranny

from forces seeking to bend a people

to its will

celebrating the courage

the sacrifice

to break the shackles of rulers

and self-govern

with no guarantee of what would evolve

If successful in overthrowing the oppressor

to install

an untried governance

of the people

by the people

for the people

ideals

of a more perfect

not a perfect union

which we still seek

freedom  

from the errors of our past

redemption

through acknowledgement

and righting wrongs

to pursue liberty

and justice for all

with a purpose to love our neighbor

as ourselves

to seek the betterment

of all who are persecuted and oppressed

by race, poverty, prejudice

to break

the flawed

and faulty paradigms

within each of us

liberating our souls