Ride Again
One if by land and two if by sea,
And the die had been cast by the lamplight’s decree,
From the eye of the night in a cold belfry perch,
America burned from the peak of the church.
We were a line in an empire’s plan,
A pawn in the palm of Great Britain’s hand,
Yet in the most wretched and ragged of states,
We dealt England a blow and conquered our fates.
We were not impoverished, not wanting for bread,
Yet we would not settle to be sheltered and fed,
We demanded our freedom, where our spirit derives,
A dream for which thousands would lay down their lives.
And we’ve lived with that pride near three centuries in,
We showed to the world that the people could win,
We have fought to preserve through fire and brawl,
Liberty, freedom, and justice for all.
Yet here once again we have come under siege,
Though the enemy now does not lie overseas,
It is growing within us, a monster we’ve bred,
By greed and by excess it’s nurtured and fed.
The voice of the people and the power it’s owed,
Is being dismantled, dishonored, and sold,
And America’s choices, the people’s to make,
Now so grossly distorted for the wealthiest’s sake.
We look to our leaders in both of the wings,
And see nothing but puppets on the plutocrat’s strings,
The papers are lost, now made deaf to the truth,
And the high court’s decision has swept up the proof.
Bastardized now is the source of our pride,
The country split between two bitter sides,
It seems that to fight would be fruitless and yet,
The dream of this nation we must not forget.
Our most precious doctrine above any other,
Is that not one life is worth more than another,
Prestige and position don’t make one more whole,
And no wealth of no size can outweigh any soul.
They can muffle our cries but they are there still,
They can weaken our rights but they can’t touch our will,
No matter the odds, the length, or the strain,
We have conquered injustice and we’ll do it again.
We thank the brave others who fought to the last,
And remember the message that rings from the past,
The reason for fighting is stronger than fear,
For posterity’s sake and for those we hold dear.
This precious idea’s a perennial seed,
It’s only a matter of when it succeeds,
Under any condition it’s able to cope,
And the only defeat is giving up hope.
We must hold our faith and never lose sight,
That our cause is not easy but Lord is it right,
To keep us a country where freedom is sought,
And never a country where freedom is bought.
Liberty’s essence is our right to choose,
I pray we’ll not wait till we’ve nothing to lose,
For the sake of the future and the name of what’s been,
Nation, I ask you, to ride once again.
(written by Ella F.W. McGrail / April 2015 )