The Land I Know Independence day

The Land I Know Independence day

I don’t wear stars or paint my face

don’t need a banner to love this place

It’s in the soil, the open land

the way we fall, the way we stand

It’s early light on quiet streets

a neighbour’s nod, a child’s bare feet

It’s diners steaming up the glass

where stories linger, legends pass

It’s farms that hold the morning dew

the rusted towns that still pull through

It’s every voice, the bold, the shy

beneath this wide and stubborn sky

It’s not just perfect, not all right

we’ve stumbled through our share of night

but still we try, still we believe

in what we hold, in what we grieve

It’s music rising from the ground

in every church, in every sound

the blues, the brass, the dusty strings

the broken truth that freedom brings

It’s never just a marching band

it’s folded flags in quiet hands

It’s knowing peace was never free

and still, we speak, and still, we see

So here’s to us — the flawed, the brave

the hearts that gave, the hands that pave

We rise, we fall, we break, we mend

and love this land until the end