The Music Plays Still

by Lou Marin

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
the volunteers trimming the grass
around the new shining granite monument
at Memorial Park down on Congress Street.

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
now stands tall and ready to be honored
by parades and Veterans speeches
on this warm sunny early July day.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
they stood tall for each and every day:
Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen.
Here they will be immortalized forever.

O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
Numerous battles have raged across the globe,
and many a good man answered the call,
today we will praise all those who fell.

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

****”The Star-Spangled Banner” is the national anthem of the United States, with lyrics written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, during the War of 1812.****

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Lou Marin, a Christian grateful for Jesus’ gift to him, was born and raised in the western hills of Maine, then spent 20 plus years wandering the country and world in the United States Air Force. Maine Department of American Legion’s Historian, he is a photographer and stringer for The Maine Trust for Local News, published poet and short story writer who pens faith based devotionals. He lives in Rumford, Maine. He is author of an anthology of poems based upon his military career entitled “Dimly Seen Through The Mists,” and a book of faith based poems entitled “My Lighthouse In Troubled Times,” available through Pen It! Publications.

Lou can be reached at mbsphotog@yahoo.com or his Facebook Page.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.