Flaring rockets bursting high
Flashing colors lights the sky.
The loud reports that echo out,
Shakes the ground without a doubt.

And so it was that fateful night
Upon a ship a man would write
A poem depicting what he saw
That would become an Anthem song.

He pens with words the sight he sees
About a banner that still waves free.
Vibrant colors red white and blue
The flag of freedom for me and you

Fifteen stars were sewn for flight
And eight red stripes and seven white.
Layered on a sea of blue
Measured thirty by forty two.

This was so the foe would see
Even though the fort at siege,
Waved a banner proud and strong
They had prevailed despite the bombs.

And though symbolic on that night
The flag for freedom that we fight.
Still it stands for what I believe
That all are equal, therefore free.

America back then was small
Fought for victory and liberty for all.
With open arms she grew to be
A mighty country for the world to see.

And so it is the banner waves
Over the lands of the free and the brave.
A flag of freedom by blood fought for.
Stars and stripes that mean so much more.

©Linda S. Burger

Frances Scott Key
Was not only a lawyer but a poet and a songwriter.
Aboard the British flagship called the TONNANT.
Watched as the rockets lit up the sky in the battle over Fort McHenry.
The poem or song as so many know as the Star Spangled Banner speaks
of the passion that men and women still today believe.
For more information click on the links below.
Francis Scott Key

the Flag of the United States: