flag raze currents clutch at the cloth on the day this country celebrates the birth of a symbol. sacrifice alive in the terracotta tint of a single palmate leaf. but there's nothing awe-inspiring about a rag on a stick. the emblem's power comes from whatever history you attach to it, personal, political, or otherwise. we don't celebrate the achenes that grow on the same trees that make these leaves. flattened wings of fibrous tissue riding out the turbulence that tears them from their homes, falling with as much grace as their thin frames will allow. they're more like us than any leaves have ever been. 220215 ... nr this is the only kind of red flag i like. hey-oh! 220725 what's it to you? who go blather from