Toast

July 3, 2025

I’d like to propose a toast this evening,
	A toast to the passing day, the eve of the fourth,
To magnificence of clouds ablaze 
	Over stolid shadows of coastal mountains,

A toast to my wife, always, we’ve
        Come such a long way together, a lifetime,
As we embark on the next leg of the journey, 
	My love, my eyes, my heart, my truth,

And a toast to my dear sisters, Peg, today
	On the day of her birth,
And Susan, born on the fourth of July,
	Lost long ago, never forgotten, 

And a toast to all my children, grandchildren,
	And all who  I’ve loved, and lost, to time
And distance and age, this sunset resonates 
	With memory and remorse,

And a toast, finally, lest I be judged as long winded,
	A toast to the United States of America, 
Sweet land of liberty, for which I stood,
	Proud, and progressed for a lifetime, 

A toast to a once proud nation at sunset,
	A shame, it had set such an example
For such a long time, now reduced 
        To a hoodlum state run by morons with money,

A toast to the History of our Country
	About to be rewritten in lies,
A toast to the long battle for liberty, for justice,
	For freedom from tyranny, a long battle lost tonight,
Tonight, a toast.