My Star Spangled Banner

Made by hand from cotton, hope and blood.  

The beautiful sparkle of red, white, and blue.

Thirteen strips,

 the roots of this nation.

Songs of freedom erupt

just by staring at it.

But it’s also filled with

stains of muddy gold and greed.

Torn by violence and injustice.

Suffused with epidemics and tears.

Still, my flag gleams in the darkness

thanks to its stars.

Each star holds a symbol:

a cross, a dharma wheel, a crescent moon,

the aum, the chai, and a khanda.

These symbols unify my flag.

They shine,

above nasty stains and tatters.

They are what we are,

the soul of America.