> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://dianaludwick.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Rockets
- URL: https://dianaludwick.com/rockets/
- Published: 2026-07-04T16:16:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:07:11.000Z
- Description: “Rockets,” an homage to this wild place, written Saturday, July 4, poem 185 in a series of 365 poems written by Diana Ludwick in 2026. Photo, "The Rockets Red Glare," by Diana Ludwick (c) 2026.
- Author: Diana Ludwick
- Tags: 2026 Poetry Challenge, Generational, Homage, Lineage, Nostalgia, Of Place, Poems, Reminiscing, Short-form Musings, 250, 250th Anniversary, Coast, Family, Fishing Towns, Fourth of July, Generations, Hands, Happy Birthday, History, July, Lightning, Living, Perfection, Privilege, Rural, Summer, Thunder, Tomatoes, Union, United States, Weiners, Young, #Migrated-1792872215677, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-24 20:03

Happy Birthday,   
Imperfect Union,  
two hundred-fifty   
years young.  
  
The red rockets  
trail the sky  
over the harbor   
above the rooflines  
ahead of the thunder  
and the lightning  
moving up the coast.  
  
We escaped the city  
in search of calm coves  
and fishing towns  
and primordial berries  
and grilled weiners  
and zesty tomatoes  
and loving family.  
  
And we know,   
we really do,  
that we are swimming   
in a pocket of privilege  
that not many can feel  
even for a day  
but we are grateful  
and we are bellies full  
and stretched legs  
and panting dogs  
and clammy   
hand-in-hand  
strolling in pairs  
down  
a quiet rural road  
in the dark  
punctuated   
by fire in the sky  
and we are happy  
and we are free  
if we can keep it.