Freedom

For my whole life I have lived in free societies, from growing up in America to now living in Ireland. In the long span of human history, and even in the world today, I know that I am in the minority to be able to live with this level of freedom. I also know that the freedoms I enjoy (and so often take for granted) did not come easily. Freedom is a gift, not a given. It is won and maintained only with effort and care. That’s what this poem is about:

Freedom

Freedom
Is so fragile
So hard to win
So quick to lose
So carelessly regarded
So often left unguarded
And blood and tears the price
For those who want to win it back
Who give up their freedom
To win back the freedom
Of children they won’t even know
Of children who won’t even know
The price that was paid
So that they could be careless and free
And slowly they care less
And then they grow careless
And the children they don’t even know
Are the children who will pay the most
Who will work hard to win
Put together again
The fragile gift of
Freedom