Flames blowing in the wind
A flag is burning-GASP!-who dares?
Only those who realize this day
The only day on which a symbol of freedom become tired
Can now be laid to rest with honor
Honor for those long hours
Hours spent with the wind tearing at you
Sun beating down on you
Lashed with rain, sleet, snow
Silent sentinel waving, whipping, hanging motionless
All to remind us of that even the luckless have been blessed
To be born into the country or
Move into it
Make it your own, make it your home
Sit, stand, kneel, prostrate yourself in your worship
It matters not to me how you pray
If you pray
You have become an American, you are one of us
My undulating pattern says this is so
Give of yourself to me in turn

The embers of Stars
The ashes of Stripes
I have been relieved of my duty
No longer tethered to a pole
I have worked proudly, faithfully
Now free to return to the world
I salute you a final time America, as you have saluted me