Unity can be difficult to envision in a world
stubborn in its division.
Its promises made with crossed fingers,
open arms across the aisle quick to close
its counterparts out.
Transformative times are not easy to traverse,
some yearn for the quiet of before, while others
shudder at its satiation - a nation settling
when it could be elevating its ambition,
there is no reason to turn backward.
The sun cannot illuminate a path that has already
fallen into shadow,
Ink marked on a page cannot be erased -
legislation is not permanent, but its amendments will
always remember.
Coming together does not mean falling into old
habits, for centuries long injustices cannot
be solved with dated solutions.
Though it may feel like the present has yet to catch up,
there is compassion and reason in the people who
create art to calm the noise, to
filter the static of breaking stories with plots that
never seem to have resolution.
It is during times of turmoil and devastation that
we turn to the artists, and
it isn’t often we see a poet outshine a president, though
it sets the precedent that we should never
underestimate the vastness an artist
can grasp within her reach - Her verse,
echoing beyond boundaries, a nation watching
silently - listening as her voice commands the hill.
A twenty-two year old woman with ambition
fierce enough to tame a politician brought
emotion to Americans that they haven’t felt
in some time: hope.
She has shown that we do not have to wait for the times
to change, for if we simply look beyond our TV screens
and into the streets, toward our neighbors
and family - there is art. Music,
and poetry.
