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The simplicity, originality and imagery of the Alaska Flag combine to make Benny Benson's design a work of art.  The same qualities distinguish the poem "Alaska's Flag," written by Marie Drake in 1927 and set to music by Elinor Dusenbury in 1938. It was adopted as the Alaska song in 1955.

With all due respect to the late Carol Beery Davis, who wrote  a proposed second verse 23 years ago, the state song doesn't need an addendum any more than the state flag needs a ninth star or "Hamlet" needs an extra act.

For the third time since 1987, the Legislature is considering a bill to add a verse to "Alaska's Flag," one that Davis, the former poet laureate of Alaska, wrote in one night at age 95. The push to expand the song has been billed as a way to honor Benny Benson, Alaska Natives and Davis.

I understand their point of view, but I don't believe it's right to take the work of any poet and "add" to it, no matter what the intentions are.

The flag, the poem and the song are works of art. Every time this issue has come up, some people have argued that the state song does not recognize Benny Benson and that's why it should be revised.

On the contrary, the text of the original poem is a tribute to Benson, as it is based almost entirely on the description he submitted to the flag contest, sponsored in 1927 by the American Legion.

This is what the 13-year-old Benson said of his simple design, chosen as a winner out of  142 entries:  "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the union. The Dipper is for the Great Bear — symbolizing strength."

Davis applied her own interpretation about Benson's design, which differs from his. She opened her verse with the words, "A Native lad chose the Dipper's stars, For Alaska's flag that there be no bars, among our cultures."

In a legislative hearing Tuesday, Sen. Albert Kookesh claimed that not adopting Davis' words would be a refusal to honor Benny Benson.

"If we don't want to recognize Benny Benson through the second verse, then the individuals who are going to be hurt are not the non-Native people of the state, it's the Native people of the state. I've pointed out to you before, the Alaska seal," he said.

"You see stacks of wheat, you see a sailboat, you see a power boat, you see sunshine, you see trees, you do not see one depiction of the Alaska Native community on that seal. What is wrong with taking a song now and adding a second verse that has just one little statement about the Alaska Native community on it."

The seal has one person on it, a farmer driving a team of horses in a field. It also has a railroad, mountains, the northern lights, a smelter, two ships, a dock, buildings, a cabin a fish and a seal.

I agree with him about updating the state seal,  but not about changing "Alaska's Flag."