This tattered, worn banner flies above the soil.

Colors washed out and stained with oil, 

However, this banner is familiar,

It’s bold, it’s proud, and I will renounce it never. 

The sharp, crimson stripes in this banner fly with a mesmerizing glamour. 

This banner, with its powerful lines of red show us all the blood shed. 

Innocent natives, discriminated people, however still flying for the ever-going war for freedom. 

This banner is stained with the crimson red of many people’s blood shed.

The elegant blue fills the canton, 

Like the impressive shows of a tall fountain, 

This banner with its sea of blue shows the world that we are true.

And then you look at history and see the reparations that are due

This blue shows us that we can still make this nation, anew.

And then the purifying white in parallel with the dominating red, 

To show the world we will fight, with our entire might until you agree, 

While indigenous people were forced to flee,

This banner shows my people’s desperate plight, attempting to show the world that beauty isn’t just in a shade of white, and why we will continue to fight

This banner is my own, 

And I will always make sure it is flown.

It represents me, standing proud like a mighty tree. 

However this banner to me, 

It represents the American’s ability to band together in tragedy. 

Like on September 11 we rose again, 

Not Democrat or Republican, all just American. 

And even through the darkness and dissolution that’s happened throughout history, 

This banner, 

This banner reminds us that freedom isn’t free.

A Note From The Poet: Americans have the unique ability to be at their best when times are at their absolute worst. In spirit of that, I decided to share this poem because on Sept. 11, 2001, we weren’t Democrats or Republicans, we weren’t Black or white, we weren’t Christians or Jews, we were all Americans that day. That made me take away one thing — you can break our buildings, you can kill our people, but you can never take away our resolve. And that’s why I’m proud to be an American.