Under These Colors

-Under These Colors-
by Keaton Foster


Up there
She floats
Up there
She goes
Wavering
Way up
Higher above
Continually
She soars
Beyond those dead
Above those missed
Above all that was lost
And everything won
She, a reminder
Of who we are
And what we are
Under these colors
Proudly do I stand
Just one man
A former soldier
Turned sort of poet
In the name of war
Under that banner
Of unquestionable freedom
I killed my fellow kind
Battle tested
Proven men
Swearing allegiance
To their own flag
To their own nation
And I’ll have to assume
To an unfamiliar deity
I’m sure they wanted to live
But on those days of battle
Fate it turned out
Was in my corner
Making sure
That I’d survive
I’m not proud of killing
But I am certain
With regard to the reason
I have no regrets
I know that I’ll answer
To my chosen God above
For all that I’ve done
In the name of her
And this great nation
Under these colors
Many years onward
From those times of battle
And from those days
Of such impossible decisions
Here again I am standing
With my hand to my heart
Swearing my allegiance
To me it seems
That most beings alive
Need something to believe
Something to aspire
For the human that is me
It’s red, white, and blue
I was born truly free
And I’m certain
To die the same
Under these colors
Proudly do I stand
Honored to have done
All that I have done
In the name of
The right to be free
And all that
Such freedom means…


Under These Colors
Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2015.