This Idea Of Free

I am so used to this idea of free
I forget how many in this world

Are shackled by ideas,
So many in this free country,
In my hometown,
Shackle themselves with ideas,
Rules for living,
Or no ideas at all,
Just behaviors,
Self-destructive behaviors
Masquerading as freedom.

So confusing,
This idea of free.


~ Poem & Photo by Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved

The Newer Colossus

Don’t give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
I extinguish my lamp beside the golden door.
Go away.
We’re full.


~ by Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved

We Americans

We Americans

Speak of our founding fathers,

Our proud heritage,

As if it were all etched in stone,

Authored by God,

This young country,

This work in progress,

Fresh from ignorance and sin,

Sinning still.

~ Photo and poem by Russ Allison Loar

© All Rights Reserved

I Knew A Young Man

I knew a young man
Who drank warm water
Right from the faucet,
From his cupped hand.

Everything he did,
An act of defiance,
An act of strength,
His way through the world.

They sent him to the war
And he didn’t last a week.




~ Poem and photograph by Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved