America’s 250th Birthday
by W. Wayne Lin

“A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door.”*
From coast to coast, sea to shining sea.
“And a word that shall echo forevermore.”*

A strike, a lightening down to the core.
Resurrected from the dead; we are on our knees.
“A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door.”

Bore the fate of the nation, he rode and roared;
a cry of alarm: “Wake up, wake up and see.”
“And a word that shall echo forevermore.”

Enemy already landed at the shore,
wave after wave, gathered around the quay.
“A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door.”

Crisis? Turning point? A mortal pledge in store.
Clock is ticking; can you hear the uproar and plea?
“And a word that shall echo forevermore.”

Place our trust in the hands of the almighty Lord.
We implore forgiveness on bended knee.
“A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door.”
“And a word that shall echo forevermore.”



*From the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.



 

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