Independence

Or... all it takes is one.

Photo by Donovan Reeves on Unsplash

“Happy 4th of July, Independence Day!” Me

One man alone, alone against the empire,
Without orders from above, without seal
Of any government, in the sincere

Instinct of one who feels the thrill
Of freedom calling,
Without decree or privilege

That authorized him, the soul
Of John Parker rose
Like flame that calls itself

To the wind. He decided, and rose
Against the imperial lion,
Without anyone ordering him.

There was no official homeland,
There was no state that pushed him,
There was no formal cause

That blessed his actions:
Only the heart that felt
The weight of chains and said

"Enough". His soul dared
Without anyone's permission,
Without flag that waved

Except the one that everyone
Carries in their chest: the flame
That doesn't extinguish at one

Touch alone, that breaks apart
Only when a man dies
But that in the soul ignites

When it feels that the fire
Of freedom calls it
To its highest value.

A shot that resounds and calls
The echo in every human heart,
A spark that springs forth

From the sovereign courage
Of one man who said:
"No further. Here I remain

Firm". His words he wrote
Not on paper but in the wind
Of history, and those opened

The passage to that moment
When all humanity
Felt beating in time

The pulse of true
Freedom. They weren't seeking
A new crown or vision

Of power. They desired
Only to be left
In peace, only asked

Not to be treated anymore
Like servants, like a flock,
By absolute royalty.

They didn't want to make law
Over other peoples or nations,
They weren't seeking to erect

New dominations:
They wanted only the right
To live their actions

Without restraint, without afflicted
Weight of those who governed them
Like forced subjects.

The freedom they sought
Was not conquest of lands,
Was not the power they craved,

But the end of wars
Against their nature,
The peace that doesn't lock itself

In chains, the opening
Of heart to exist
In its purest form.

They didn't want to subvert
The world, they didn't aspire
To throne, to reign

But to live, and aspired
Only that they be left
In peace. So they aimed

At what they hoped
All free men would:
Not that they be crowned

But that their days be free,
Their hours,
Their sincere thoughts.

This was the true spirit
That lit that spark:
Not lust for power

But the simple spark
Of heart that wants to be
Left in its villa,

In its simple living
Without chains, without
The oppression of imposed

Duty. The innocence
Of this pure yearning
Has in its essence

Something that endures
Beyond centuries, beyond
Eras, that assures

To those who gather it and turn
It to their heart, the strength
That never decomposes

To break every bark
Of tyranny, every veil
That dims freedom.

One man alone, his longing
For peace, one weapon
Pointed toward the sky

Of empire: this is the eternal
Norm that governs
Every true reform

Of human condition.
No army is needed,
No superhuman force:

One man who says
"No more" is enough, and that his saying
Be an echo that applies

To the soul, that makes
All other brothers feel
The need to rise

From valleys, from castles
Of oppression, toward
Those more beautiful skies

Where man, immersed
In his dignity,
Is no longer coerced

But lives in freedom,
Not because he has won
But because the truth

Of his heart, the deepest
Instinct of good,
Has finally bound itself

To courage, has taken
The reins of destiny
To break the chains.

This is the fire that lit
The world: one man alone
Who said to the weight

Of empire: "I fly
Away from you, I don't serve
You anymore, I'm not soil

On which you trample, servant
Who obeys blindly:
I am man, I preserve

My freedom. With me
Stands the divine right
Not to be the dry

Twig in the path
Of your will:
I am man, my destiny

Is not servitude
But freedom, and this
Is my virtue".

One honest word,
A heart that doesn't yield,
A flame that remains

Lit, and that asks
Nothing but freedom:
Here is where resides

The strength that will always be
The spark
Of true liberty.