Can you hear it?

Can you hear it?
A wispy, muffled, grumbling sound?
Men and women, children alike,
carried by the wind up from the ground.

A time not too awfully long ago,
when men and women stood side by side.
Declaring their beliefs of which they stand,
to a grander land with fervor and pride.

Fifty-six men put their quills to parchment,
knowing they faced death for treason.
Their convictions were strong, let freedom ring,
throughout this land with conviction and reason.

Each pledged their lives, fortunes, sacred honor,
fifty-six souls long gone from this land.
In God they trusted to help see them through,
yet, their voices are still heard loud and grand.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned,
two sons sacrificed, two more captured and tried.
Twenty four lawyers, jurists, eleven merchants,
the rest farmers and plantation owners to hide.

T. McKean, Lyman Hall, Edward Rutledge too,
C.  Braxton, Arthur Middleton lost all they own.
They gave all for the sake of a dream, a cause,
Francis Lewis lost his wife never to see his home. 

Where are the fifty-six to walk in their shoes,
to bring this land back to freedom for one and all.
The reason why our troops fight and defend,
they can hear it, do you hear the call?

In the blowing wind, the rustling of leaves,
the roar of the oceans, the rumbling of streams.
This is our home, this is our life,
remember all the hopes, remember all the dreams.

This land belongs to all of us,
to grow, share, prosper best we know.
To share too with our animal friends,
lead the way the world to show.

Can you hear it?
A wispy, muffled, grumbling sound?
Men and women, children alike,
carried by the wind up from the ground.

Written by:
Karen Palumbo
Photography by:
Robert Palumbo
9/14/2009 © All rights reserved