February 22, 2025
When I hear the anthem played or sung
(I’m still not sure which one’s the one)
My heart will always clench its fist,
I’m deeply touched. I can’t resist.
“My Country ‘Tis of Thee” might be
The song. Or … “Oh Say Can You See?”
Regardless, though, of which or why,
When either’s sung, it makes me cry.
At school events or baseball games,
Wherever … on “the fruited plains”
I hear the music start to play,
A tear is just a blink away.
With memories of my family tree,
And all they struggled to be free.
They fled, with hope, from “Over There,”
To here, where they could dream and dare.
A home … a land of liberty
In which they’d plant our family tree.
They worked; they toiled; they’d laugh and
hope.
And never once forgot to vote.
And that recalls a memory
Of childhood from about aged three.
Of learning that we had a choice;
Our ballots were our Nation’s voice.
They’d vote, at “school,” my hands in theirs
And thus, I learned … quite unawares,
The unescapable effect,
Of “We the People” … and respect.
So, when I hear a “Semper Fi,”
From veterans: that makes me cry.
I’m thankful – it is ever thus –
For all that they have given us.
And of those tears I can’t elude,
They always are of gratitude.
To those brave souls who gave to me
This land … “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
Copyright © 2026. Shelly Reuben
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