Virginia

Like Washington and Jefferson,
Wilson and James Madison,
I call the Old Dominion my home.
From Charlottesville to Arlington
and Newport News to Abingdon,
In Richmond and in Staunton I will roam.
Walk down narrow streets of cobblestone.
Visit Williamsburg where freedom’s seeds were sown.
Grandpa spoke with pride of her,
told tales that in my mind did stir
a sleeping history not gone away.
At times I feel that life’s a blur.
I’ve traveled wide, then traveled further,
In my mind Virginia always stays.
Jamestown lived with help from Powhatan
Monacans still inhabit Piedmont land.
Virginia is the Commonwealth where I was born,
the hills are all adorned
with the dogwood trees, their colors sun-splashed on an April morn.
My allegiance I have sworn
to Virginia.
The cardinal’s our state bird it flies
through marshes fields and sunlit skies.
Bright red wings above the blue spruce pine.
The fox, black bear, and heron blue,
the wilderness and prairies too
Bass and catfish swim through streams that wind.
Rappahannock River in bloom,
See the leaves on Skyline Drive changing soon.
And when I am gone I know that she will carry on
for she is stronger than the lonely night is long.
Virginia is the Commonwealth where I was born,
the hills are all adorned
with the dogwood trees, their colors sun-splashed on an April morn.
My allegiance I have sworn
to Virginia,
to Virginia where I was born.