250 YEARS,  1776

We are free,  what happened so long ago like a dream,

Let me take you back in time to a land so far away.

A King’s army, a tyrant who ruled back in England,

Many ships traveled across the sea to take our shores.

The militia and army were ready to fight for our freedom,

In 1776, Redcoats and Dragoons approached our shores,

Families sacrificed, and young men died on this American land.

It’s been 250 years since we fought and defeated the British army,

Ghosts of many patriots wander the land; in their graves, they are free.

Keith Garrett

Far between sundown’s finish, and midnight’s

Broken toll

We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashin’

As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds

Seemin’ to be the chimes of freedom flashin’

Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight

Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight

And for each and every underdog, soldier in the night

And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’

Even though a cloud’s white curtain, in a far off corner flashed

And the hypnotic, splattered mist was slowly liftin’

Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones

Condemned to drift or else be kept from driftin’

Tolling for the searching ones on their speechless, seeking trail

For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale

And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail

And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’

Starry-eyed and laughin’, as i recall when we were caught

Kept by no track of hours for they hang suspended

As we listened one last time and we watched with one last look

Spellbound and swallowed till the tollin’ ended

Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed

For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones and worse

And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe

And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’

            OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE

A revolution was on, they would not own us anymore,

A tyrant, a King’s army would soon challenge a nation.

The American people were ready to fight, with cannon balls at night,

For so many nights, a red, smoky glare lit up the war-torn skies.

Their British army tested and taunted, men fell to a bloody end,

Our fathers and uncles, brothers and friends, sacrificed for their land,

We fought back, took down those redcoats, and the dragoons fell to the ground.

Our flag was still there, tattered and torn, but had risen from the fire and smoke,

We have grown to be an American nation, as we are more than two hundred years later.

Keith Garrett

In seventeen -seventy six we took our stand, to

Fight a tyrant far away,

We were slaves, if we did not pay then they would take.

By the name of King George, he ruled from across the sea,

When we decided there would be no more, he sent an army

Of ships to invade our shores.

Cannonballs into the air, gunfire and killing everywhere,

The sky lit up throughout the night.

A smell of gun powder, we did not run from the fight,

Swords raised from the Red coat’s hands.

Some of us would die, many would pay the price,

Proud to take that stand, once upon a time.

We pushed them back, these invaders from a foreign land,

They turned and ran back home to a ruler far from here.

Our flag was raised, we were free,

They would come again, but we would bring them to

Their knees.

Keith Garrett

.

       INDEPENDENCE DAY

Far across the sea, a British army would prepare an attack,

A tyrant of a King sits on his throne, plotting to take from us.

They’ll be coming, we will rise and fight for our Independence,

Into the Boston Harbor, these massive ships approach with booming cannons.

The night sky lit up from bombs bursting, and screaming Musket fire is heard,

“The red coats are coming! Stand up! Load your weapons and hold your ground”

This is an American nation, the enemy will not defeat us, our flag will fly high,

Fireworks on the fourth of July, memories of seventeen seventy-five, we survived.

               Keith Garrett

      GHOST OF A PATRIOT

In 1775, back in a revolutionary time, a man picked up his gun,

Leaving his home to fight and defend the land he worked hard for.

A King’s army would travel across the sea to take away a certain freedom,

Boston Harbor, where cannonballs would fly across a night sky.

Many would lie dead as battle raged on, Dragoons invaded our land,

A patriot, one man who in the end would be remembered by few.

There was a fight in him as great as any other in this war on farmland.

Like many others, he was a man with a family, wife, children, and friends.

This man perhaps went by the name of Jonathan, not to be remembered today.

He did die for his country way back in 1775, a patriot with a life,

Does he wander along the thirteen colonies, this ghost of a patriot?

     Keith Garrett

Across the open sea, through raging waters they sailed,

They were the King’s army, they thought they would prevail.

Believing to be superior over a common man,

An ego much too large when they stormed our shores.

Redcoats, Dragoons, charged upon us to take freedom away,

Everywhere, flashes in the night, but we would not turn and run,

A flag of colors, red, white, and blue, waived through many days

And nights of bloody fight.

Torn, dirty, and burned, it would not disappear,

Through the winter cold, into the summer heat,

Our men battled, families suffered and sacrificed

For what seemed to be an eternity.

Beyond the smoke, for so long, flashes in the night,

We stood our ground, we saw the morning light.

Keith Garrett

Across the sky on the fourth of july,

Bombs bursting into the night.

Echoing the sounds from long ago,

Independence day is celebrated in the here and now.

Fighting for freedom on this land,

Dying for what they believed as they made their stand.

To the men, women, and children, who gave their lives,

We honor that which was achieved back in a time.

Across the sea they set sail,

To take from us, but would not prevail.

In eighteen twelve came to us another fight,

They invaded our land by day and by night.

On our shore, the enemy approached,

With guns and swords, ready to attack.

We fought this battle, many gave their lives,

For what they were doing was surely right.

Keith Garrett

        A PATRIOTS STAND

At the mercy of a tyrant’s throne,

From far away, across the sea, they owned our homes.

A decision was made to take a stand,

No more would they be in charge of this land.

Ships sailed by night and by day; they would come,

Freedom is not free, red, white, and blue.

Dragoons, red coats, approached the shore,

Cannons firing, bombs, and gunfire lit up the nights.

Face to face, marching across the land, enemy at hand,

Fallen soldiers, the blood of men soaked our land.

Watching from their homes was not such a pretty sight,

Death came to visit, something of an endless fight.

For the fathers and sons who fought side by side,

A flag of freedom was raised, united in a revolutionary time.

Many died but did not die in vain,

They live on each day the stars and stripes are waved.

                               Keith Garrett