July 10, 2016
Dear Subscriber:
Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of
view. This week’s theme is Independence Day, in honor of Independence Day
(USA), which falls on July 4.
Today’s poem is an Independence Day poem about the importance
of history.
I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.
Yours,
Nick Gordon
Identity requires memory.
No less than people, nations must recall
Days past, lest they wander witlessly,
Erased each moment, guided by the wind,
Pushed by lusts no wisdom can forestall.
Events are facts that one cannot rescind,
Nor can forgetting consequence forego.
Despite one's wish, the past is not behind:
Even now, it works its wayward will.
Nor can we understand what we don’t know.
Contain your cavils, then, and snide thoughts still,
Even as we celebrate our story,
Described with all the clarity and skill
A scholar can sustain in heart and mind,
Yielding what for now is history.
© by Nicholas Gordon
Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I
chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/identi.html.
For more poems for Independence Day, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/july4thpoems.html
.
This week’s theme: Independence Day.
July 5: To the Founding Fathers
July 7: July 4th Is a Day for Barbeques
July 9: Innocence Is like an Open Door
July 10: Identity Requires Memory
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