In the year of 1776
That paper was decreed -
They were tired of oppression
And wanted to be freed .

They wrote a Declaration
So the whole world would see
This was, "the home of the brave
And the land of the free".

They signed that piece of parchment
The leaders of this land
Knowing, divided they would fall
But, together they could stand.

A new world lay before them
Untamed from shore to shore -
They swore the would protect it
If it meant going to war.

Battles have been fought
And many lives have been lost -
So sad something so basic
Has such a high, high cost.

Seems freedom is a luxury
There's some would bind us all -
Like then, together, we can stand
But divided, we will fall.

More than two hundred years
Have past by since that day
That each of us celebrate
In our own different way.

We should be proud and thankful
Pay a share of the cost -
Not take freedom for granted
For it easily could be lost.

© Del "Abe" Jones