Freedom to Assemble - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

Happy to consider
the profound difference
the freedoms we cherish
to pray for their struggle
to shake off the yoke
the boot of their oppressor
to enjoy the freedom to assemble
to speak out for justice
to set the captives free

So much we take for granted
as we did yesterday
gathering to decide our budget
as a people together
in the power of our voices
to forge our own agreement
on what our future will be

Mindful of the difference
the world taking notice
the people of the countries
yearning to be free
We must we with them
standing against the tyrants
we must act as a nations
to help them win freedoms
the freedoms we enjoy

March 6, 2011
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
March 6, 2011
Last Sunday after Epiphany
Transfiguration Sunday
&
All of the North Africa and Middle East coverage
versus the freedoms we share
such as our town’s School District Meeting
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/244046/new-teacher-contract-budget-approved?page=0,0
March 5, 2011
&
“Moammar Gadhafi's son speaks with CNN”
http://bit.ly/eZObIw
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saif-al-Islam-al-Gaddafi/10917256698
http://twitter.com/SaifGaddafi
Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi
http://twitter.com/NicRobertsonCNN
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nic-Robertson-CNN-Fan-Page/64870076458?ref=share
Nic Robertson
&
one of the all-time
great pictures, capturing evil, before it rose up to full flowering http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue9911/icon02.htm,
of Joseph Goebbels, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels,
on display at The Granary Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard
(http://www.granarygallery.com/),
taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898 - 1995),
http://artquarterly.com/artist.cfm?ID=16,
a master of black and white. Photojournalist of the century, http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue9911/eisieintro.htm.
&
Tweet about nighttime abductions in Tajoura district of Tripoli
http://alive.in/libya/2011/03/04/pro-government-attacking-houses-at-night-speak2tweet/
massacre in Zawiya
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/04/libya.conflict/index.html?hpt=T1
March 4, 2011
&
firing of tear gas on people coming out of prayers
in Tajoura neighborhood of Tripoli
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8362590/Police-fire-tear-gas-on-Tripoli-protest.html
March 4, 2011
&
the coming of a Friday day of prayers, which have been the days
of the largest protests in many of the countries in revolt
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/middleeast/05unrest.html?_r=1&hp
March 4, 2011
&
The ludicrous statements of Moammar Gaddafi
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/28/libya.protests/index.html?hpt=T1
February 28, 2011
The coverage of the sons of Muammar Qadhafi
with Christiane Amanpour
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/world_news&id=7983698
February 27, 2011
&
seeing the genocide in Libya
and hearing the rabbling of Gadhafi
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/02/22/bts.gadhafi.statement.libyanstate
2/22/2011
&
on the transformations since the beginning of January -
all the protests in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Oman,
Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Palestinian Territories, Djibouti, Mauritania, Senegal, etc.
and
especially the resignation of Hosni Mubarak
February 11, 2011
&
and the jubilance in Tahrir Square
versus the bloodshed in Bahrain and Libya, etc.
February 18, 2011
&
hearing claim by President Obama 2/15/2011
in a news conference that when history books tell it
we will be seen as being on the right side of history
in how the United States responded
&
Post on Twitter by Wael Ghonim
http://twitter.com/Ghonim
“Our Revolution was like Wikipedia”
http://twitter.com/Ghonim/status/37306340103688192
http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/ghonim-our-revolution-wikipedia
February 14, 2011
&
Post on Twitter by Wael Ghonim
http://twitter.com/Ghonim
“This is Revolution 2.0: No one was a hero because everyone was a hero.”
http://twitter.com/Ghonim/status/36708161440190464
February 13, 2011

Copyright by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage.