Now I Feel American
By Linda Reid

I never owned a flag before, I never flew it proud,
I never felt the urge before to sing our anthem loud.
It's not that I don't love this land, but I never knew the pride,
And I never felt the pain of war or loved a soldier who had died.
It never crossed my mind to fear that freedom could desist,
I never thought my heart would clench into this raging fist.
I never worried, never thought that I would see the day
When hate would turn incarnate to blow liberty away.
When airplanes in our friendly skies are cryptic, lethal bombs
That defile and annihilate, and rape our nation's calm.
I've assumed that peace is guaranteed, that justice never fails,
That my children won't see acts of war, that liberty prevails.
But evil slashed America and took it unawares;
On a sunny, still September day a country screamed its prayers.
And as we reel from tragedy, as every heart unites,
America will stand again in defense of human rights.
Now I feel American like I never felt before,
Pure blooded, warm American in a country I adore.
Now there's a flag pinned to my jacket, a flag outside my door,
And a flag that flies within my heart for freedom evermore.

 
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