Freedom is a precarious gift

 Freedom is a precarious gift.

When in the garden God gave us everything that is,

the riskiest gift of all was freedom.

 

White men in powdered wigs with ink-stained fingers,

defying a tyrant,

signed up for the freedom of all,     

          (when all were far from free)

propelling a nation forward

          that has never stopped fighting for freedom.

 

That fight, we call democracy,

is lived through the consequences of our choices:

          compassion or cruelty

          decency or immorality

          competence or ignorance

          peace or chaos

          patriotism or betrayal

 

A democracy may choose to turn on itself,

relinquishing its power to a tyrant.

          (or a petty, little liar)

Or a democracy may choose to do freedom better. 

Freedom is a precarious gift.

 

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