Land of the Free

Land of the Free

Night sky bursts open,
children in wide-eyed wonder,
the red, white and blue.

Blankets grace damp grass,
sticky fingers, wands aglow,
joy hums in warm air.

Awe lights up their eyes,
each boom a heartbeat louder
in dark summer heat.

Sparklers trace the wind,
laughter dancing in the smoke,
in land of the free.

Last blossom of light
echoes in their dreaming hearts,
filled with gratitude.

Colleen Keller Breuning @ 2025
July 1, 2025

Happy Tuesday!?! This is a first for me, writing so early in the week. For the second year, my office is on July 4 week shutdown, wooooo!!!!! This is a “free” week off, no need to use my PTO! 😀

I wrote this haiku series thinking about how we spent our July 4 as children way back in the 60’s & 70’s in Maryland. Sometimes Dad would take us to the Longmeadow Fireworks display, but more often than not, we watched from afar in our perch up high in the playroom of the old house. We could see the fireworks just over the roof of Mr. Gordon’s house a few doors down. That’s one of the clearest July 4 memories that I have, and I cherish them. Fireworks could be scary up close, but so beautiful viewing from a distance.

These days, we watch the Franklin Park fireworks from the comfort of our own backyard. Our fire pit up on the ridge of our property offers basically a front row seat to the Purcellville July 4 Fireworks display. Like last year, we’re heading up to northern PA tomorrow to visit my sister and her family. In Westfield PA, there’s not a whole hell of a lot to do, so we hang out on their mountain property, have a fire pit, grill food, watch their own fireworks display and drink beer (or in my case, wine)! Occasionally we’ll do target shooting with Al’s rifles and other guns, as well as handguns. I’m not a bad shot for a girl, and it’s a lot of fun – even though Dan and I did not grow up in households with any types of guns. My brother-in-law is an excellent teacher, and my sister Barb is an experienced pistol packing Mama, haha!

I hope whatever your plans are for July 4, that they are peaceful, happy and spent with those you love. Have a great holiday!

Xoxo,
Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 1.17 – The Red, The White and The Blue
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a patriotic quote, lyric or phrase (“Land of the Free”)
Easy Bonus: Include fireworks