An Amherst Fourth of July

Look up in the sky!
It's the Fourth of July!
And at the rockets red glare
The townsfolk do stare

But I look askance
Hoping by chance
To see in the faces
A thought for the places
Where the battles were fought
And the freedom was wrought
By those who left home
To go it alone
Like Lieutenant John Eaton
Who returned unbeaten
From fields far away
To celebrate this day
For at age twenty five
He came back alive
To the town that he'd known
And always called home
A son of Amherst
Who saw the bombs burst
But not for a thrill
Only to kill
Those who would stand
And fight for this land
So I look to the sky
With a tear in my eye
And on my way home
I stop at the stone
That bears the name
Of the very same
Lieutenant John Eaton
Who returned unbeaten
Having kept to his station
To help birth a nation
So after the parade
Visit those who are laid
Behind the town hall
Because they gave all.