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Independence Day?
a rondeau
Some dared. Some died. With pluck and pride
And guts and grit the brave defied
Despotic rule. They stripped the foe
Of dominance below a glow
Of stars that spangled eventide.
With God and gumption on their side,
They brawled and bled for kin that cried
Beneath each iron fisted blow.
__Some dared. Some died.
Some won our freedom—now denied.
As sparklers flare and rockets glide,
As burgers grill and chilled beers flow,
Behold Old Glory top a show
Of liberty in times that hide
__Some dared, some died.
.
.
Susan Jarvis Bryant has poetry published on Lighten Up Online, Snakeskin, Light, Sparks of Calliope, and Expansive Poetry Online. She also has poetry published in TRINACRIA, Beth Houston’s Extreme Formal Poems anthology, and in Openings (anthologies of poems by Open University Poets in the UK). Susan is the winner of the 2020 International SCP Poetry Competition, and has been nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.
This is a heartfelt July 4th treasure that makes the transitional leap from the achievement of freedom in the past to the present degradation by political powers temporarily ensconced in high places of our most valued rights and beliefs as guaranteed by our Constitution. Bravery comes in many forms and standing up to the destructive forces in our society by sharing truth through classic poetry is one of them.
Roy, I thoroughly appreciate your lovely comment. It’s words like yours that inspire future poems. Thank you for your kindness and thank you for your service!
Bless you, Susan!
Susan, what an inspired rondeau! The form is perfect for the message and you make the most of it with colorful language which contrasts the great sacrifices made to give us freedom and the tawdry way in which a pale illusion of liberty is now celebrated. I especially like the meaningfully alliterative “God and gumption” and the moving repetend “Some dared, some died.” This poem beautifully documents the loss of liberty that our culture now vapidly cheers with fireworks and barbecue. The speaker/observer’s ache is palpable.
Brian, as always you have presented (perfectly) my exact intentions with clarity, and I particularly appreciate the fact that the “… ache is palpable”. Sadly, I believe this poem speaks for many on this historical day. Brian, thank you very much!
“Stars that spangled eventide” — what an artful way to refer to our national anthem! You’ve used your customary flair for internal rhyme, alliteration, and heartfelt phrases, to display your patriotic colors. I’m always glad to see American patriotism; but I find it especially moving from one who hails originally from the land of Shakespeare. Thank you, Susan!
Cynthia, I thoroughly appreciate your comment. I love the fact that you revel in the finer details of my poetry… thank you! I would also like to say I am proud to be an American… I have come to love the people and to respect the history and the culture of this great country… a country that has been let down horribly by self-serving politicians… just like my homeland.
Susan, a most inspiring first stanza that falls to a show-and-hide liberty party in the last. Sad to say, even the sparklers have been disinvited from the party in my area. They have been replaced by perfectly safe, battery operated glowsticks. As a child, I was a bit afraid of the real fire and hot wire in sparklers, but I never thought they would become a nostalgic item my children could not legally experience. I did teach them “some dared, some died” but freedoms are fading, great and small. Nonetheless, happy Independence Day to you!
Margaret, thank you very much for your comment, and for the sparklers story… much the same as my own. I too used to be a little afraid of, while also being in awe of, the sparklers that I wrote my name with in the cold, smoky November air of Guy Fawkes’ Night. The world is full of danger and by creating safe and sterile environments we are robbing generations to come of the ability to cope with and know the dangers of their surroundings and the ability to learn and think of the best ways to survive them. The perils of living in Texas came with fear and awe… feelings that are absolute assets for producing interesting poetry. 😉 I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day in spite of the current worldly woes.
A fittingly somber July 4th reflection. Thank you, Susan! Along the same lines is an interview I did for a blogger’s July 4th show:
https://www.ganjingworld.com/video/1fvl6l2cqqa6w6OsBBXZ20A611vq1c
Thank you, Evan! I thoroughly enjoyed the interview and thoroughly recommend it!
In connection with memorials of the Vietnam War, these brief sayings were coined:
All gave some. Some gave all.
About us today, in our current culture war, these seem more appropriate:
Some have dared. Most are scared.
Susan, I’m glad to see you back. You’re one of the few who have dared.
Joe, it is so good to be back on Texas soil… after my latest trip to the UK and Europe, I can honestly say I was born to be an American citizen.
Sadly, I agree with you wholeheartedly on the ‘Some have dared. Most are scared.’ front… that is exactly why the Western world is in this current mess. When self-serving politicians lie and turn their backs on we the people, they should be called out by we the people. Apathy, indifference, and fear fuels a tyrant’s objectives. The only thing that will save us is unity. I am hoping we the people will get our act together… soon.
Beautiful.
Paddy
Thank you, Paddy.
Hi Sue, another well structured poem — in every sense– p.s. I finished both of your collections –enjoyed every one — but was particularly impressed by the sonnets, do you think I have some sort of innate bias? They now adorn my shelves, resting in between Bridges and Burns. I am thinking about joining . I could do a poem from the British perspective –e.g. On the downfall of the Heroic Benedict Arnold–lol. but I would probably need a long preface on whimsy and irony.
I would love to read a poem On the downfall of the Heroic Benedict Arnold. This may fit the current times perfectly well. Perhaps we could learn something. Did he ever receive his well-deserved participation trophy?
Dave, thank you very much indeed! It’s always great to get a compliment from your good self, and I would love to see your sonnets published here… your mastery of the sonnet form and the beauty of your words inspired many of my poems… especially those on nature.
This rare site has a huge appreciation for poems like yours… it would be lovely to see your work on these pages… please join! I’m with Yael on the Heroic Benedict Arnold front… what a treat that would be. As for whimsy and irony… the site is full of it… I wouldn’t be here otherwise. 😉
I’m thrilled you enjoyed my collections, although I think you should break with tradition on the filing front… Bryant Burns Bridges is much more in keeping with the truth!
Susan –
Close to twenty of my forbearers fought in various battles -Bunker Hill, Brooklyn and others. I am so proud of them every day, but especially today.
Thank you for your skillful and most appropriate poem, my dear friend.
You are a true American.
y.
Dear Sally, it doesn’t surprise me to hear you come from such courageous stock and I am most certain that if they lived today, they would be proud of your creative achievements… in today’s world such accomplishments for talented artists of your breed are rare and well worth celebrating. You are a true inspiration.
Fine work as always, Susan. I’m prejudiced towards liking it by its similarities in tone and subject matter towards my own recent poem here, the uneasy juxtaposition of the jolly holiday and its grim and bloody cost. And enviably smoother than my own at times roughly mortised piece. Great minds think alike and all that, if I may be so presumptuous. Kudos!
Adam, it’s always great to get a comment from you and this one sent me in the direction of your latest two… they’re great and they sing with the music of my soul. Thank you for your like mind, your talent, and your appreciation!
Susan;
“Some dared, some died.” Those four words say so much. I can only shake my head and wonder what they would think today. Thank you.
Phil, thank you for your comment and for your service. I am in full agreement. What on earth would those who fought boldly for the freedoms we are now throwing away think?! I can only imagine and it’s not pretty.
Susan, this is great! By contrasting the heroic sacrifices many made in the Revolution for various freedoms with how little is done to celebrate this, and with these freedoms being taken away bit by bit, you’ve tapped into exactly how my mother and I have both been feeling about what day today is.
As Shaun C. Duncan said in a comment on my poem “Walking by a Baseball Game” ( https://classicalpoets.org/2023/05/28/red-flags-a-sestina-sonnet-by-joshua-c-frank/ ), “it’s heartbreaking to see so many patriotic Americans over the past few years have to come to terms with the fact that the country they love potentially no longer exists.” As one of those Americans, I would remove the word “potentially.” I’m not sure at what point the country I love stopped actually existing and started only appearing to exist, but things have become so bad that even the appearance is gone.
Thank you very much for this, Josh. Your admirable poem, “Walking by a Baseball Game” has much in common with mine… and I believe many in the Western world have the same feelings Shaun so eloquently points out in his comment on your poem. What a sad world we are living in. If only more would speak out. If only more would dig their heels in. If only more would say a resounding “NO” to the puppets in governments that spout the doctrine of the WEF… then we may have a chance of saving the liberties we have enjoyed till now.
Joshua, I used “potentially” only because I’m wary of being overly critical of a country I’ve never even visited. A lot of foreigners love to spout off on America’s problems, as I’m sure you know all too well.
Susan, as a Pom I’m sure you’re aware that the two-party Westminster system as is currently stands offers no hope for meaningful change in any of the other countries in the Anglospehere. The threadbare remains of the American republic are our only hope. Where America goes, the rest of us will follow.
Commemorative and contemporary at the same time! Nice piece, young lady,
and welcome back…
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Mark. It’s good to be back!
Congratulations, Susan. It seems we lost more than our best colony!
Paul, it’s lovely to receive a comment from such a talented poet – thank you very much indeed!
Great poem as ever Susan. I love “guts and grit the brave defied.” The fourth didn’t get much of a mention over here as we seem to be stuck in an endless festival of “Pride”
Hope the books are doing well.
Jeff, it’s lovely to hear from you and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the poem. As far as my books are going, I’m still a poor poet, but one with a legacy… I’m leaving behind reams of rhyme instead of a tombstone, and that makes my heart sing. We have endless “Pride” over here too… time for some satirical sonnets, methinks!
Thanks for a unique and appropriate addition to what for us is still a sacred holiday. Always enjoy the Susanisms!
Russel, thank you very much for your comment. I am most respectful of this sacred holiday, and when I celebrated yesterday, I celebrated all that was fought for to bring independence to oppressed people… people that were brave enough to leave a country that didn’t respect their choices and voices.
I love the alliteration in this poem. You are a very talented poet.
Thank you, Chris.
Dog Checks Democrat Owner Into Therapy After Traumatic 4th Of July Fireworks Show
NEW YORK CITY, NY – According to sources, Sammy, a local Beagle, has checked his progressive owner Carl Sphincter into therapy for post-traumatic stress after last night’s fireworks show.
Witnesses say the show featured excessive displays of patriotism, flag-waving, and rockets’ red glare, which caused Sammy’s liberal owner to run and hide under his bed and whimper for several hours.
“Look at all this American pride, even though America is on stolen land and minorities are still oppressed!” said Sphincter, according to a close family member. “Every explosion is like a big ‘white supremacy bomb’ in the sky! And they’re loud and scary!”
He then tweeted angrily about how awful America is and then wet his pants.
In related news, another dog named Bullitt also checked his Trump-supporting owner into therapy after he read Sphincter’s anti-American tweet.
Article from The Babylon Bee
Love the Jarvisian poetry…
Hilarious… it seems that satire sums up the insanity of our society better than any newspaper article can. Thank you, biggest fan!
Great poem, as always Susan. The rondeau form seems very fitting for this annually repeating holiday with a freedom theme. I love that you immediately give the recipe away in the first 2 stanzas. The author James, who said in translation “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” also said “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” It’s not a complicated recipe. Thank you for illustrating it so well. I trust that you and Mike had a wonderful Independence Day; “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”
Yael, it’s always a pleasure and a privilege to receive a comment from you and this one is no exception. Your take on my poetry always gives me plenty to think about and inspiration for future poems. Mike and I had a wonderful time… America has an amazing history that is cause for celebration in many areas… it is also full of wonderful people with opinions that excite and unite… you are one of those wonderful people. Thank you!
This is a stirring tribute to your adopted homeland, Susan. As always, I’m in awe of your skill – your prosody is so perfectly wrought but it reads so smoothly as to make the whole creative process look much, much easier than it is.
Shaun, thank you so very much for your lovely and encouraging comment. Coming from you, it’s high praise indeed. I am particularly drawn to the rondeau… the repetition is effective but non-invasive… a great form to get an important message across. I have grown to love Texas. I have come to respect American history and culture and all those who fought for the independence of the American people who are fast losing these freedoms. Let’s hope the tide turns soon.