Randy E. Richmond

MEMORIAL DAY, 2007

We’re gathered once again, as we’ve done every year
For parades and remembrance… and to do so without fear
To stand here and speak freely with no shackles or gags
To weep in memory of the faces behind the small flags

We’ll laugh, sing, and eat, we’ll honor our dead
Then when we’re home tonight we’ll snuggle safely in bed
We’ll wake up tomorrow with little worries or care
That we’ll look out our window and see the bogeyman there

That we can be here together, unafraid or concerned
Is due to our fallen… our safety not given, but earned
Even now as the bugle plays and we pray to our God
Young men and women are being laid ‘neath freshly cut sod

Let’s remember as we’re standing among these memorials and trees
That the freedoms we enjoy today come with no guarantees
Liberty wields an awful invoice, insisting it be paid
Our thanks to those who’ve given all… that payment has been made

I wonder, as we stand in sorrow for those who’ve brought us here today,
Will someone step up on tomorrow… if peace can’t find its way?
I think I have the answer, and if you just look around
You’ll see the face of this America… where patriots abound!