This morning I awoke to birdsong
A gentle breeze, cloudless bluesky day
Stretched out before me like an ocean
Vacation day,
All mine, to do as I please

I drop into a lounge chair
Pick up my book
War, imprisonment, starvation, cruelty
Greed, suffering, all the light we cannot see
People trapped in lives they did not choose
Fiction told in these pages I hold

The newspaper’s filled with the same
Story after true story after true story
All around the world
But not here
Not where I live and work and love and breathe freely
Not where I wave my flag listening to patriotic cries of horn and drum
Not here

This day is a gift
This freedom that I have, you have, we have
To be cherished and revered and kept sacred
To give thanks for on the 4th of July, yes
And to remember tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next
To be free is the greatest gift of all