13.2.09

Hope and the Voice Now Risen

This is the inauguration poem I wrote for my class assignment.

We have doubts. Let them be laid to rest as
We have laid fathers, mothers, sons and daughters;
We have not buried hate, though he is our Caesar,
We have not struck the knife through the whole
Of prejudice, of inequality.
To reach this day, we have triumphed; the fight
Was long, the war not yet won. Hate is sly:
It is not a villain to be faced head on,
Equality must be lived, justice must be breathed
Deep into our lungs. Breathe deep of the day.

Deep into the night we often sink, let
Others be bygones, grace these ghost sounds with
Silence... but silence does not raise a hand.
Silence does not speak up at hate and fear –
Silence is complicit. Our eyes have seen
Terror, our mouths have cried "Once!"
Our ears have heard "Enough."
One nation, still divided, stands before
A yawning chasm, of gnashing teeth, meat
And shadows. Dark falls on our windowsills,
Dark falls on our hands at work or at play,
And the beast still seeks to swallow us whole,
To drown us in darkness.
We must not falter, fall to old judgments,
Unless we pay the price, lost to a sea
Of doubt. Sly hate. If we do not stand together
We will not stand much longer through this night.

Dawn is breaking red, read upon its lips
Is not our destination. No. We see
The path we have to walk, and hope.

Thru-sdays

I realize that I forgot to post yesterday; I have a poem ready on my Linux side, I'm currently booted into Windows. I was sick for most of yesterday, so I have a good excuse. I'll get it up by sleepy time tonight.