by special guest and my friend, Nathan Jeffords

The 50 Star Constellation

You are a casted fleet of ships You are a reaching, asking nation. You are letters to a place, a dream You are curious, you are patience. When that darkest night does fall And your course be uncertain, Let our shores be welcome mats And an answer, not a question. Let our words be swift and kind, And our hearts be joyful poems. Let our decisions be made by wisdom, Not by calculation or election. Let our flag be a guide to tattered souls A welcome letter, not condition. Let these stripes be roads to homes, And these 50 stars be a constellation. Let these blue fields be a promise For life, liberty, and reconciliation. And when some would have our banner Reduced to the color of one or two, Remember that no one is truly right or wrong, Difference is merely point of view. And that white stripe light has within it The presence of every hue, That blood spilled is always red No matter whom it runs through, That home is not from where you've come, But where you are - even if it's new. That every person has felt themselves break thinking their pain unbearable and undue, But when I was there and felt all alone, Love Was given and I was pulled through. So, let us see ourselves in each other, And so reach our hand out to you.

by Nathan Jeffords