Happy Independence Day

We at the Punch wish you a very safe and happy 4th of July Celebration this weekend. For all of you in DC, enjoy the Fireworks, the National Mall concert and be careful on the Metro (remember tourists – you WALK on the LEFT side of the escalator!).  If you are in NYC, hopefully you will be able to get near the soon to be re-opened Statue of Liberty.

I was on the treadmill (because I was working off one glass of the 101 glasses of wine I’d had this week in DC’s Wine Country) watching FOX News and caught Martha MacCallum reciting “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus with the Statue in the background.  I got goosebumps as I heard the words because they are so beautiful.  Here it is for you to read and remember how lucky we are to live in our Freedom.  Happy 4th!

“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”