Ode to a half mast

My brilliant banner,
Of which we'd lastly
Forgotten,
'Till every chance
Had wandered past,
Unprohibited.

We never found pride,
Before the nation's defilement.
We never knew compassion,
Untill empathy in tragedy.
We never saw life,
now, whimsically
incognito.

To see you not as
Boldly,
You lie wounded
With your spine pressed
Wearily upon the slate,
When once you danced and were
Imperishable.
The wind carried your creases with a
Freedom
That we'd understated.

I pledge to you now,
In your saddened grip,
With spangles that tilt
As if with tears of
Red and white and blue.

Your mass, so furrowed as
We cling to your meaning,
With solemn pride and
Unity,

The roots of growing onward.