scenes we can feel

places with history speak

without words as though

we, too, experience

what has happened

within that setting

as though the archway writhes

or the rocks give witness

or billowing dust at the horizon

breeds terror, anticipating

marauding hoards

scenes we can feel

revelation

story-teller’s tone, inflection

expression and body language

as he sits, hovers, bends, twists

against the flickering firelight

recreating, intensifying, revealing

teaching us to re-think, re-feel

re-live the vastness and wonder

of our lives

wind-animated stars and stripes

  awing, what a piece of cloth can say

curling, whipping upwards like a flame twisting

unfurling to full banner in the wind

silently relating history and sacrifice

pride, hope, people striving for better

extending white and red

as though to reach for freedom for all

showcasing stars, that, like celestial bodies above, shine on all below

long may it wave

            mjNordgren  7/4/2022  Blue house, Lincoln City