He stands bravely, silent as stone.

People about: milling, talking

tour guides speaking, children walking.

–

Face set like flint, toward the unknown.

while children squeal—a happy sound

chase one another, dive to the ground.

–

Straight as a pillar, white as bone

as darkness drapes the evening sky,

fireworks snap! Bursting and high.

–

he holds the line, looking toward home

in flashes of light and of darks

red white and blue, bursting in sparks.

–

Holding his ground; guarding his own

while trucks rev up, driving away

he stands still, till night turns to day.