written on the occasion of the presidential inauguration,
with inspiration
from and gratitude and/or apologies to Percy Bysshe Shelley
by Quincy Saul, January
2017
1.
I heard a voice on the
Southern wind
It came o'er desert
soils and poisoned waves,
It demanded of me that
I begin
A poem to foil the
prose that makes us slaves.
I heard a cry on the
Northern wind
It rose o'er the roar
of war and grief,
It demanded of me that
I begin
A poem to soar o'er
doubt into belief.
I heard a scream on the
Western wind
It came o'er peaks of
hunger and pits of thirst,
It demanded of me that
I begin
To cast a counter-spell
to our terrible curse.
I heard a song on the Eastern wind
It swept o'er melting
ice and rising tides
It demanded of me that
I begin
A poem of beauty and
battle lines.
By the word is the
world disfigured,
With the word is
the world disgraced!
With the word is
the soul transfigured,
And illusions are
sewn into place!
Yet the word cannot
be replaced!
For the word is the
act prefigured,
And the word is the
spirit's embrace,
And the word is the
will encased,
When rhyme helps
the word find its place
As the heart keeps
the blood configured,
May poetry pump for
salvation and grace.
2.
The
modern world had reached an age
Of
culminated love and rage,
Confounding
every pen and page
Which
sought to make it dance upon a stage.
And
the poets were lost who could not face frost,
Forsaking
the cost of the spring.
Of
seasons and reasons we ceased to sing,
And
doubt and dread took flight on winter's wing.
And
yet a vision came to me
Of
culminated loves and rages
So
destiny appeared to me
To
demand his wages.
He
brought the world upon parade,
In
calamitous cavalcade,
Where
every soul must play its part,
Surrendering
their mind and heart
To
their place in the procession,
Hear
my vision, my confession!
3.
I
found myself at the parade
Observing
from a promenade
Built
from the hopes and fears of all the world.
This
nation was the center of this world,
For
around this world its war machines curled.
The
glory of the empire shone
On
towers and trumpets bright as bone,
The
lights were brighter than the sky,
And
the food and the fuel and the fire and the flags did fly!
It
was a land of freedom and damnation,
Of
puritans and their temptations,
Of
slavery and emancipation,
Of
law and re-enslavement,
Of
debt and entertainment,
Of
genocide and patience.
4.
The
sun and moon were in eclipse
But
this eerie sight all eyes did miss –
Their
eyes on the parade were fixed:
Here
was a banker, fat and bold,
With
mouth like a wallet and a heart of gold,
Proud
of the price that he got for his soul.
Here
was a child, strange and shy,
With
a mouth that was mute and clouds in her eyes,
Poisoned
by lead in the water, that's why.
5.
Here
came the soldier, headed to war,
Trained
in gore and the empire's chores,
Upon
his heart a mighty dream:
“Be
all you can be.”
Here
came the soldier, back from the war,
Homeless
and poor,
He
killed for his country,
What
for?
6.
Here
comes the White man, in his mind supreme,
He
can't see why the world won't share his dream,
He's
filthy and thinks he is clean.
Here
comes the Red man, sacred pipe in hand,
He
survived all the White man's plans,
He
knows he belongs to the land.
Here
comes the Yellow man, patient and strong,
He
too has survived all the White man's wrong,
He
may be master before long.
Here
comes the Black man, who survived the worst,
Who
reverses the curse,
Here
is the last who shall be first.
7.
Here
come the lost youth
Who
never heard of truth,
Empowered
and let loose.
Here
come the adults, proud and secure,
The
forgot their dreams but they are insured,
Can
they be cured?
Here
come the elders, cast aside,
In
sterilized centers they wait to die,
Their
children do not hear them cry.
8.
Here
comes the policeman, from his belt hang weapons
To
help the people learn power's lessons,
And
on his breast are power's words:
“Protect
and serve.”
Here
comes the spy,
On
his lips lies, hiding
Death
in his eyes,
Who's
surprised?
Here
come the workers, through millions of veins,
The
heart of capital holds their reins,
What
do they have to lose but their chains?
9.
Here
come the suburbanites
Like
termites, busy all night,
A
swarm and a blight.
Here
comes the celebrity who lives for fame,
Everyone
knows their name.
The
sparkling flame is tame –
Who's
to blame?
Here
comes the adman, charming and slick,
He
lives on tricks which keep people sick.
10.
Here
comes the prophet to conquer pain,
To
make the world believe again,
Diagnosed
as criminally insane.
Here
comes the prisoner and the guard,
They
both hold freedom in high regard –
To
look them in the eye is hard.
Here
are the radicals, crazy or brave:
Wherever
they can they rant and rave,
How
many souls can they save?
11.
Then
came the students and their teachers,
All
the pilgrims and their preachers;
They
corralled their mighty herds
With
an electric flow of words.
Shameless
of their uncalloused hands
They
spoke for the balance of life and land
As
if redemption and salvation
Hinged
upon their calculation,
As
if the fate of land or nation
Could
be measured, kept or rationed.
The
clever and the educated –
Upon
whose words much action waited –
Counseled
calm and moderation,
Disgracing
all their education,
For
their degree and their distinction
Presided
over mass extinction!
The
shadow that their knowledge cast
Was
ignorance, vast.
On
their lips was every reason
And
a catalog of every treason,
Yet
in their minds weighed every cause to pause,
And
in their thoughts was every fact and no act.
12.
And
then at last, rising over the herd,
The
leadership that it deserves!
The
first, with handsome eyes and golden skin,
Held
the hopes of all with him,
Shaking
hands, forgiving sins,
Birds
of metal circled him.
With
the gold of peace around his neck
And
at his feet, six nations wrecked,
In
one hand glory, and the other gory,
He
seemed chosen by history
To
make of it a mockery.
By
the oppressor blessed, he stood for the oppressed.
A
symbol of peace, he dropped bombs without cease.
He
stood up for the poor, and gave the rich more,
He
stood up for the sick, and made parasites rich,
He
led invasions and shattered nations,
Preaching
peace and reconciliation.
His
name was repeated the world around,
And
in his name they heard freedom's sound,
Heard
sweet chariots swinging low
In
the engines of predator drones.
With
the hope he stole
He
gave empire soul!
He
was so bold.
He
blessed the people as he said goodbye,
And
tears fell to them from his eyes
And
made them blind.
He
ruled with love and not with fear
And
so they held him dear.
They
wept and wondered at his farewell
As
if under a spell.
13.
A
different leader now arrived
To
represent the empire's pride.
He
ruled with fear and not with love,
So
they raised him above.
With
sneering lips and orange skin
He
held the eyes of all on him.
He
promised greatness, also power
To
everyone that he devoured.
He
made deals between villains and cowards
And
put his name on many towers.
Chosen
to lead the empire's fall,
He
promised it a giant wall.
Ugly
and ruthless, smug and grim,
He
held the eyes of all on him.
An
expert in the art of the deal,
He
knows how to steal!
Thus
the empire did elect
A
president with no respect,
To
let the lecherous billionaire
Show
the world how much they cared.
He
pledged to unite all sisters and brothers
In
the buying and selling of the Earth, their Mother.
Beautiful
women surrounded him
While
he made war on the feminine.
A
true believer that might makes right,
Whose
favorite color was White!
He
promised to leave no one behind, and to rob them blind.
He
promised peace and promised war, whatever they asked for.
He
promised rebirth, and to rape Mother Earth,
And
the people loved and hated, and he was elated.
And
they filled the streets to announce his blame,
And
they chanted his name.
14.
Last came
Democracy; he lived
In a white house,
built by blacks;
He was bloody like
his creation,
Like Death in
Revelation.
And he wore a
business suit
And in one hand a
button held
To condemn the
world to to hell.
In the other hand
was currency
Proclaiming “Life
and Liberty,”
And these words
were branded on his flesh:
“The pursuit of
happiness.”
15.
He
stood upon a massive throne
Made
of living skin and bone,
It
was dragged through the streets by millions of ropes
Braided
from living dreams and hopes.
Golden
glasses cover his eyes,
The
windows to his soul disguised,
While
the fancy shoes in which he stands
Protect
his feet from stolen lands.
Machinery
was in his ears
Deafening
himself to thousands of years.
His
nostrils too were closed with gold,
Sealed
to the stench of the betrayal of his soul.
His
shadow cast in every direction,
(He
believes it will protect him)
And
before him stands a mirror grand,
So
he sees only his own reflection.
In
his heart a whirlwind slept
It
was his very soul repressed.
For
in his soul was something he feared:
Ancestors
who held his name dear!
Lingering
spirits he couldn't erase
That
raged to see their name disgraced,
And
promised that they would awaken
To
reclaim the word he had forsaken!
16.
Then!
Like a dream within a dream
The
procession was pierced by a brilliant beam –
The
sun emerged from its eclipse
And
captured the crowd like a cosmic kiss...
And
in that moment every eye
Turned
from the empire to the sky
And
in that moment every dream
Turned
from the empire to that beam –
It
fell upon a little girl who had her arms raised high,
And
in that moment every ear was filled with an eagle's cry.
Majestic
and mysterious, wonderful and wild,
An
eagle descended on the beam, to alight on the hand of the child.
And
then to the tune of prophecy,
The
little girl began to sing:
17.
Remember twelve
score years ago!
When what we reap
today was sown:
When a nation was
conceived
In the love of
liberty!
When a continent was
dedicated
To the conviction
that all are equally created!
Remember when this
treasure
Required devotion's
full measure,
So that freedom's
rebirth
Would not perish
from the earth!
18.
Behold the Tree of
Liberty,
Withered and weak
with drought and disease,
Radioactive with industry,
Strangled by supremacy,
Behold strange fruit and Misery!
Rally to the Tree of Liberty,
Radioactive with industry,
Strangled by supremacy,
Behold strange fruit and Misery!
Rally to the Tree of Liberty,
Refresh it with the
blood of tyrannies!
That's its natural
manure, the founders assured.
If a government
works against our life,
To alter or abolish
it is our right!
19.
Remember twelve
score years of wrongs, and sing their songs!
Remember twelve
score years of hopes, and weave their ropes!
Remember the
imagination:
The equality of
creation
As the foundation of
a nation.
To fight for the
fruits of self-evident truths,
And to live like
life has inalienable rights!
To make the dreams
of the distant past, real at last!”
20.
And
in her small but certain voice,
She
gave them a choice:
“Call a
continental congress,
To rewrite the
constitution,
Or let the winds of
change bring war
And civil
dissolution.
A constituent
assembly
To re-found democracy
So it includes us
all –
Or it will fall!
A covenant of all
the land's peoples
To overcome their
nation's evils,
To forge forgiveness
and find new worth
In an empire's end
and a nation's rebirth!”
When
the child finished, she lowered her hands
And
the eagle took flight for other lands.
And
here my vision ends,
Where
the path of the future bends.
