O My Country

O my country, how majestic are your radiant colors, how beloved your sweet breaths, and how strong the power of your beauty over one who understands that life is beauty and love.

O my country, how I long to be Raphael, that I might immortalize your beauty. Or Dante, that I might chant the poems of your love.

Or Joan of Arc, that I might burn for your sake.

Nay, I long for more than this. I long to become a lofty, holy spirit, that I might enter the spirit of your sons and breathe into them something of the flame of my love and my passion.

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I loved my country as youth loves. I loved her first for love's own sake. And when I drew near her temple, and her splendor was revealed to me on the night of the gift, her breaths filled my breaths and her spirit mingled with my spirit, and I became — like all steadfast lovers — one who loves love for the sake of the beloved.