Title

Paper Flags (Alma 46:11-13)

Book Title

The Glory of the Son

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

2019

Authors

Anderson, Sharon Price (Primary)

Pagination

72-73

Publisher

Time Lines Etc.

City

Orem, UT

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Paper Flags

Moroni . . . took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty}. (Alma 46:11-13)

Will I gird on armor for feeble

flutterings of seasonal patriotism?

What defense will I raise

for stiff rectangles that recede

in the vanishing permanence

of pleasant parades?

Correct colors of paper expediency

blowing in the autumn breeze

will not bring me to my knees.

Disposable banners, that barely cling

like brittle leaves to dying branches,

will not inspire my heart.

Tomorrow, I will not remember

simulated standards that pale

and dissolve in cold, wet gutters

or flash into ash and float away,

disappearing in the hot air

of pretended passion.

But take the very covering

of wounded flesh and write on it

the price of peace.

Nail this rent coat to a staff,

tall as the tent’s center pole.

Plant it firmly in the earth to

secure the title, our right to liberty.

This sufficient sacrifice

I will not forget.

Beneath this ensign that

defines the desire to be free,

I will worship, serve

and even bleed.

So wave no paper flags for me.

Subject Keywords

Poetry

Title of Liberty

Captain Moroni

Bibliographic Citation

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