Happy Independence Day

I look at my flag and it brings a lump to my throat
But doesn't the same happen with a Tuvaluan for her flag?
'Jana Gana Mana' brings tears to my eyes,
And so surely does 'South Sudan Oyee' for that country's citizens?
'Satyameva Jayate' I hold as gospel,
And doesn't a Brazilian do that for 'Ordem y Progreso'?
I like my four-lion national emblem,
The German loves his double-headed eagle as much, doesn't she?

At the end of the day we're just another country, aren't we
Who gets to speak at the UN between Iceland and Indonesia?
With the sames hopes and failings, the same jealousies,
Petty sporting triumphs and stock-market crashes
and localised adaptations of Shakespeare's Othello
As the USA or Nauru. Just another bunch of humans, really.

Happy Independence Day.

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