And in the beginning

Life and Liberty

Happiness, too

Each was but a Word

Softly spoken hardly heard

Their truths were self-evident.

Each Word’s truth now

Hides up in the heavens

Waiting to be spoken again

Heard and believed

Revered and protected

by a faith-shaken people

inattentive self-deceived.

Fourth of July

New promise in the western sky.

Let us go there, you and I

As evening spreads for us

Blankets of color

In pastel folds

Inviting us to begin anew

Happiness to pursue

And to sew and stitch

Mend and share

Believing Life and Liberty

Though torn and shred

Threadbare and rare

Will cover and protect us

As we tend to them

Hereafter with care.