Kane

Hmm. I agree that this is very well done... and perhaps this isn't the correct place to disagree with a comment, but before I get into the poem I wanted to reply to something Zool said. I must assert that people, in their human nature, do need love. And once you have love, you need to keep it. It's personal relationships that sustain us. To think otherwise is to be jaded, and a jaded soul is one that is wounded forever. But. On all other points Zool brings up about the poem, I agree. Love is a term that is thrown around too freely in today's society, and I believe that you made that point well, Wyvern. The partial rhyme scheme works well here and I particularly like the stanza about someone's "special burden". It strikes a chord with me. Thank you for your work, Wyvern.

Hmm. I'm just wandering through, thought I would drop my thoughts in. Patriotism, as it has been said before, is the love of your country, its people, its culture. I believe that most of us here can agree on that, at least. What I don't agree on is how people look at the word love in this context. Love is simply choosing what is best for the subject of your love and acting upon it. If you truly love something, you have to show it, or your love is wasted, and all you have is heartache. I heard this somewhere: "A martyr is someone that dies fighting for what they believe in. A hero is someone who is willing to die for what they believe in, but they would much rather live for it." We need more heroes--not just in America, but in the world. People who are self-sacrificing enough that they would give their lives, but intelligent and passionate enough to realize that they can do much more good if they continue to live and fight for their cause. Am I a patriot? I try to be. One thing I don't necessarily like is labeling msyelf and others. I have love for my country, and I do what I believe I am called upon to provide, plus a little extra. If that makes me a patriot by definition, so be it. If not, I'm just a guy that loves America. Good question.