Freestyle lines while driving through Gettysburg on Memorial Day Sunday…

Driving through Gettysburg

To the north of me the rain clouds gather

And the storm is headed this way,

But the sun shines over Gettysburg.

The darkening gray turned black clouds

start to swirl and envelop the sky,

And the road is a gray bubbling saucer

Where puffs of smoke exude.

The skies over Gettysburg peel open a layer of sadness that embraces these hallowed fields,

Where celeste skies reveal puffs of cirrus white feathers,

With sunshine for ink like clouds rewriting history.

I think on the men, women, and slaves that fought to keep this country beating,

To keep its heart pounding,

They gave so much of themselves,

An unlikely transfusion,

Transmutation,

Transubstantiation,

Transcendent Moment in this young country’s fettered past.

And so much of what divided this country

still divides this country now.

What shared experiences,

What shared cultural tendencies,

What shared endeavors, adventures, proclivities

Do we as Americans possess?

What do we share besides the earth which we take for granted, the skies which we rebel against in our heights for lofty glory,

Mother nature who we depend on but don’t ever thank,

What makes us?

What makes us so unique, what makes us so different, what makes us so much better or worse than any other person on this earth?

What is it that truly defines us, not as a citizen of the world but a human being as well?