In this election year and in the midst of the pandemic, it makes at least me want to review those things that America is supposed to stand for as our moral compass.

Sustaining Liberty
by Michael Doyle

Inherent as sisters and brothers
Is that no one rules another
Through all society's compact stays
These are freedom's sweet days

Filled with the fragrance of equality
For lives lived in truest liberty
All other rights from these derive
It is then the basis on which we thrive

If we do not give another our consent
Then their right to rule is absent
No one then has the right to dominate
A free people will not enslave their fate

But rather from consent is formed country
A social compact that will give society
There in the acquiescence to subordination
But, it only exists as agreed on in station

Consent of the governed to the government
The principles to which the people assent
In return the government is to provide protection
This is sacred to our cherished institutions

Armed forces and developed foreign policy
Are necessary to the preservation of liberty
Our borders must, of course, be maintained
For the integrity of our nation to be sustained

Also in our protection is to prevent crime
Constitutions and law protect us in our time
Sacrosanct is the protection of life, liberty and property
For which all three branches provide with dignity

Or, at least, these were the principles of our nation
Somehow the absence of budget has lost prioritization
And this differs greatly from the duty of preservation
Of natural rights as the social contract for our nation

(c) April 20, 2020  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved