Freedom Frozen
Freedom Frozen
Daniel Segura
(Written on the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom)
4/6/03
A great ice storm
Gives us something else to talk about
The war and now the weather.
I saw a frozen flag on an iced car.
Oh, it still stood erect, but
That Star Spangled Banner
Wasn’t yet waving.
O’er the land of the cold
And the home of the ambivalent
Polls say “support”
And politicians profess easy victory.
But if the whole picture is
Worth a thousand words,
Feels like we’re only getting five hundred.
It’s clear we’re in a battle with
Icy paths and limited visibility.
Seems no one can see
Much beyond the immediate.
Hope there’s no slippery slope ahead.
Can’t get that image,
That frozen flag,
Out of my head.
That symbol. Freedom.
So many have fought
And died for it.
For me.
It was frozen
As if Freedom itself
Had stopped moving,
Stopped waving.
That flag will thaw.
But what then?
Will it just lie limp and damp?
Will it ever be the same?
The colors of Freedom never run,
But what if they must be redefined?
Does “Freedom” have the same meaning
To us- to the rest of the world-
If it is used carelessly?
They say you have to
Burn a flag
If it gets wet or touches the ground.
What do you do to Freedom
If it gets soiled?
A lot of flags are
Burning these days.
Post 9-11 there were lots of flags.
They got tattered from all the
Waving in the patriotic wind.
But they never froze.
Not ‘till today.
Daniel Segura
(Written on the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom)
4/6/03
A great ice storm
Gives us something else to talk about
The war and now the weather.
I saw a frozen flag on an iced car.
Oh, it still stood erect, but
That Star Spangled Banner
Wasn’t yet waving.
O’er the land of the cold
And the home of the ambivalent
Polls say “support”
And politicians profess easy victory.
But if the whole picture is
Worth a thousand words,
Feels like we’re only getting five hundred.
It’s clear we’re in a battle with
Icy paths and limited visibility.
Seems no one can see
Much beyond the immediate.
Hope there’s no slippery slope ahead.
Can’t get that image,
That frozen flag,
Out of my head.
That symbol. Freedom.
So many have fought
And died for it.
For me.
It was frozen
As if Freedom itself
Had stopped moving,
Stopped waving.
That flag will thaw.
But what then?
Will it just lie limp and damp?
Will it ever be the same?
The colors of Freedom never run,
But what if they must be redefined?
Does “Freedom” have the same meaning
To us- to the rest of the world-
If it is used carelessly?
They say you have to
Burn a flag
If it gets wet or touches the ground.
What do you do to Freedom
If it gets soiled?
A lot of flags are
Burning these days.
Post 9-11 there were lots of flags.
They got tattered from all the
Waving in the patriotic wind.
But they never froze.
Not ‘till today.
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