ABOUT AMERICA

        We Americans would rather do than talk about doing. Would love our liberties, yet hold off bragging about them. Sacrifice and die in the service of Freedom, ours and others', but grow a bit wincy and reticent when our Land is proclaimed the Beacon of Freedom. Perhaps this reticence harks back to our Puritan heritage that frowns upon self-promotion; perhaps it derives from our practical and restless instinct to get on with things; or perhaps it reflects a blushing unease at being called the belle of the Ball. Or a little of each?

        I am a stranger to such reticence. As one rescued by America from the pit of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe, loss of Freedom is still a stark, haunting memory for me; the fragility of life at the whim of tyrants is a reality I have witnessed. And so the daily breath of Freedom is forever fresh and refreshing; like the birth of a child, it is at once commonplace and miraculous. I find it hard not to brag about America.

        But to whom to brag? Visiting Europe, they'd rather I brag about the Vikings and Columbus and Lafayette and Kosciuszko. And I do. In Britain they'd rather make jolly of "that ill-advised, nasty little rebellion in the Colonies." And I do. Just about everywhere they'd rather dwell on McDonald's billion-strong long march around the globe. And I do.

        Well, I've had my fill of reticence. With this poster, with this time capsule of our democratic heritage, I brag about America. About the Beacon of Freedom we have been. About the Beacon of Freedom we have become, yes, for all humankind at the start of this millennium. There. That wasn't so hard? Relax, enjoy, let me do the bragging. It's a tough business, but someone's got to get going with it.

        When We the People ... is the centerpiece of a series of posters I conceived to celebrate America, weaving the woof and warp of our patrimony into an imaginary fabric of the Stars and Stripes. From a few yards away, the poster greets you with familiar contours and colors. As you approach, you first distinguish the words of the National Anthem, then those of the Bill of Rights, then the thoughtfully defiant phrases of the Declaration of Independence, until finally, up close, you discern the entire text of our Constitution. Like the country itself, the poster will open its riches to you for the searching.

Regard it, read it, revel in the glory of its meaning ... and, who knows, maybe even brag a little. It is lovingly dedicated to you and to America by

TMEALF@aol.com