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For Us the Living

Thu, 02/12/2015 - 6:00am

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A poem in honor of Lincoln's birthday, but dedicated to all who have come after.

A seat of honor at our nation's doorstep,
o'rlooking all with solemn pride,
our latter-day founding father's monument
stood empty upon its gentle rise.

But in the space of a heartbeat
from one century to the next,
this stone temple shook with the swell
of his unfulfilled promise, vexed,

beset by trials unseen too long
'till they rose, several times fourscore,
up to the very foundations of this man
turned legend, dreams deferred no more.

A new dream was brought forth,
conceived in liberty, born in strife,
dedicated to an old creed:
rebaptized and reborn to new life.

This groundswell grew too large
for the cold comfort Lincoln's shade gave,
spilling out beyond the fountains
to the homes, cities, schools of the brave.

Yet in the quiet halls of
the sixteenth president's chapel
freedom's eternal call still echoes:
undaunted, unyielding, upheld.