Light a Candle for Liberty

I looked for Liberty late one night
Wading word and treading thread
My journey long had made me ill
No comfort for my head
But Liberty was hid from me
The hounds were on the loose
Dear Liberty and company were running from the noose.

I searched every site I found
Though broken Justice had been crowned
The bitter fruit my lips did parch
And truth it seemed was on the march
In shackles tightly bound.

Dear Liberty fled, the sign-post said
Democracy, long underfed
Tales of trial did abound
Truth, lost Liberty did confound
Inspiration, all but dead.

And I with lighted candle vowed
To trod through fertile fields once ploughed
For seeds of Truth that had been cowed
To help them breathe and speak out loud.

Though Liberty stayed safely hid
Despite the countless pleadings bid
I felt Liberty's shadow nigh
And thus refused to say goodbye
When Liberty softly did.