I grew up with reverence
for the red white and blue
Spoke of God and liberty recit
ing the Pledge of allegiance
Learned love of country
from my own family
Some shivered and prayed approach
ing the beaches of Normandy
The flag waves high and that's
how it should be
So many lives given and taken
in the name of freedom
But the story's complicated
and hard to read
Pages of the book obscured
or torn out completely
A misnamed people
and a kidnapped race
Laws may change but we can't
erase the scares of a nation
Of children devalued and disavowed
Displaced by greed and the arrog
ance of manifest destiny
Short- sighted to say
it was a long time ago
Not even two life times have passed
since the days of Lincoln
The sins of Andrew Jackson,
the shame of Jim Crow
And time moves slow when the tra
gedies are beyond description
I've been to every state and
seen shore to shore
The still open wounds of the Civil War
Watched blind hatred
bounce back and forth
Seen vile prejudice both in
the south and the north
And ac countability is hard to impose
On ghosts of ancestors haunting
the halls of our conscience
But the path of grace and
good will is still here
For those of us who may be con
sidered among the living
Love in our hearts with the
pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory
Love in our hearts with the pain
and the memory, mm