The Janus of Freedom
By D. Edgar Cook
We rallied for freedom:
Freedom to speak, freedom to worship,
Freedom to read, freedom to assemble.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
We rallied for freedom:
Freedom to print the truth to power.
Freedom from unreasonable seizure.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
A nation was born.
An election was held.
They rally for freedom:
Freedom to squelch individual liberty,
Freedom to assign truth to captivity.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
They rally for freedom:
Freedom to down the forest green,
Freedom to drill in the wilderness pristine.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
They rally for freedom:
Freedom to govern by decree,
Freedom the governed to ignore.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
They rally for freedom:
Freedom to sludge the rivers clear.
Freedom to foul our breathing air.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
They rally for freedom:
Freedom to let the unqualified rule.
Freedom to the immigrants be cruel.
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
For what freedoms must we rally?
For what freedoms will the bell ring?
As a nation we began in search of freedoms.
As a nation will we die by new freedoms found?
Let the bell ring! Let freedom ring!
Clang the gong banging for freedom!
D. Edgar Cook is an occasional writer of poems and short fiction who tends to probe the present and future from unexpected perspectives. His work appears in recent editions of the Central Oregon Writers Guild Literary Collection.
Photo credit: Roman Janus coin by Andrew McCabe via a Creative Commons license.
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