Freedom

This came into my head in class.

Let freedom ring,

Across seas and on

Foreign shores,

Far, far from home,

Let freedom ring,

Like the sound of a gun, a firing cannon,

Over the shouts of combatants 

And the screams of the dying,

Let freedom ring,

On campaign day,

Behind pristine politician smiles,

Distorted - and destroyed,

Let freedom ring,

From the throats of tyrants,

Who would damn and slaughter their own,

Masking it behind "freedom" and "democracy",

Let freedom ring,

In the hearts of its defenders,

Honorable and stouthearted,

Torn up from deciding conscience or duty - pawns,

Let freedom ring,

Mournfully, for those of us who believed,

Those of us caught in the crossfire - citizens, civilians, mothers, teachers, fathers, wives, daughters,

Cut to pieces, cut down,

By bullets fired in the name of freedom.