freedom
Liberty Tree
In a chariot of light from the regions of day,
The Goddess of Liberty came;
Ten thousand celestials directed the way
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the gardens above,
Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
And the plant she named Liberty Tree.
The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground,
Like a native it flourished and bore;
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around,
To seek out this peaceable shore.
Unmindful of names or distinction they came,
For freemen like brothers agree;
With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued,
And their temple was Liberty Tree.
Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old,
Their bread in contentment they ate,
Unvexed with the troubles of silver and gold,
The cares of the grand and the great.
With timber and tar they Old England supplied,
And supported her power on the sea;
Her battles they fought, without getting a groat,
For the honor of Liberty Tree.
But hear, O ye swains, ’tis a tale most profane,
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain
To cut down this guardian of ours;
From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms
Through the land let the sound of it flee,
Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer,
In defence of our Liberty Tree.
– Thomas Paine
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Caged Bird
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
– Maya Anglou
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Paris Attacks
To the victims and their families..
Deepest sympathies – we cannot imagine your pain and grief.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this terrible time.
Nobody should be made to suffer as you are, and our hearts go out to you.
To the perpetrators, living and dead…
Your barbaric brutality impresses no-one.
Yes, we are afraid of your actions – who will you set out to murder next? Men, women and even children are not safe from your cowardly attacks.
But we will not be bowed.
We will continue to live our lives according to our values.
We will enjoy the freedoms that you seek to destroy.
In Memory Of The Fallen
To all those who have died, and continue to do so, to keep us safe from tyranny and oppression…
I Do Not Know Your Name
I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died
Your uniform, branch of service, it matters not to me
Whether Volunteer or Conscript, or how it came to be
That politicians’ failures, or some power-mad ambition
Brought you too soon to your death, in the name of any nation
You saw, you felt, you knew full well, as friend and foe were taken
By bloody death, that your life too, was forfeit and forsaken
Yet on you went and fought and died, in your close and private hell
For Mate or Pal or Regiment and memories never to tell
It was for each other, through shot and shell, the madness you endured
Side by side, through wound and pain, and comradeship assured
No family ties, or bloodline link, could match that bond of friend
Who shared the horror and kept on going, at last until the end
We cannot know, we were not there, it’s beyond our comprehension
To know the toll that battle brings, of resolute intention
To carry on, day by day, for all you loved and hoped for
To live in peace a happy life, away from bloody war
For far too many, no long life ahead, free of struggle and pain and the gun
And we must remember the price that was paid, by each and every one
Regardless of views, opinions aside, no matter how each of us sees it
They were there and I cannot forget, even though I did not live it
I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died.
– Kenny Martin
9th May – Today In History
Born:
1949 Billy Joel (musician)
Died:
1966 Alfred Mendelsohn (composer)
On This Day:
1945 Czechoslovakia freed after Nazi occupation
Have a good Saturday, 9th May!
Libertatis Sacra Fames (Oscar Wilde)
ALBEIT nurtured in democracy,
And liking best that state republican
Where every man is Kinglike and no man
Is crowned above his fellows, yet I see,
Spite of this modern fret for Liberty,
Better the rule of One, whom all obey,
Than to let clamorous demagogues betray
Our freedom with the kiss of anarchy.
Wherefore I love them not whose hands profane
Plant the red flag upon the piled-up street
For no right cause, beneath whose ignorant reign
Arts, Culture, Reverence, Honour, all things fade,
Save Treason and the dagger of her trade,
And Murder with his silent bloody feet.
– Oscar Wilde
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Of Old Sat Freedom On The Heights
Of old sat Freedom on the heights,
The thunders breaking at her feet:
Above her shook the starry lights:
She heard the torrents meet.
There in her place she did rejoice,
Self-gather’d in her prophet-mind,
But fragments of her mighty voice
Came rolling on the wind.
Then stept she down thro’ town and field
To mingle with the human race,
And part by part to men reveal’d
The fulness of her face–
Grave mother of majestic works,
From her isle-altar gazing down,
Who, God-like, grasps the triple forks,
And, King-like, wears the crown:
Her open eyes desire the truth.
The wisdom of a thousand years
Is in them. May perpetual youth
Keep dry their light from tears;
That her fair form may stand and shine,
Make bright our days and light our dreams,
Turning to scorn with lips divine
The falsehood of extremes!
– Alfred Lord Tennyson
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I Prefer The Gorgeous Freedom
I prefer the gorgeous freedom,
And I fly to lands of grace,
Where in wide and clear meadows
All is good, as dreams, and blest.
Here they rice: the clover clear,
And corn-flower’s gentle lace,
And the rustle is always here:
“Ears are leaning… Take your ways!”
In this immense sea of fair,
Only one of blades reclines.
You don’t see in misty air,
I’d seen it!It will be mine!
– Alexandr Blok
http://www.aromaticcoffees.co.uk
Freedom – simple, powerful and very appropriate for a Friday!
Freedom
Freedom to give
Freedom to live
Freedom to question why
Freedom to walk
Freedom to talk
Freedom to live or to die
Freedom to sing
Freedom to swing
Freedom to just walk on by
Freedom to speak
Freedom to seek
Freedom to laugh or to cry
Freedom to work
Freedom to shirk
Freedom to spend or to buy
Freedom to please
Freedom to tease
Freedom to smile or to sigh
Freedom to be
Freedom to see
Freedom to aspire so high
Freedom to touch
Freedom to clutch
Freedom to grant or deny
Freedom that’s mine
Freedom divine
Freedom no money can buy
– Royston Allen
http://www.aromaticcoffees.co.uk
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