Somewhere Around the Mountaintop

somewhere around the Moutaintop
somewhere near a place that can't lie
we've been told there's a God of History
and we'll have to choose somebody to answer the questions
that sound from its center
someday

somewhere around 1968
somewhere near the Balcony
we've been asking for a chance to apologize
and to be heard
we'll probably want a little girl to write a letter for us
and fold our forfeits into the envelope
like they're just these thin things we don't need anymore

somewhere around a lunch counter
somewhere near the back of the bus
we've been heard mumbling
whispering
sneezing
where we used to shout
where we used to sing
and holler
and orate
and share the meanings of our dreams
where somebody made a bunch of us feel like we'd lost something important

we got it back
we think we got it back

"now it doesn't matter now"
now with our threats
sick and white and
wandering, some in the open
posturing for flashbulbs and pistol-blasts
others keeping secrets
indoors and dark, with periodicals in patient stacks
counting down
counting backwards from a number they couldn't get past before

now with troops surging and
sand waiting and
the world sneezing all over and
"Difficult Days Ahead" and
Great Crime
"it really doesn't matter what happens now"
now with our new dogs and hoses
now with urgency

somewhere around the Lincoln Memorial
somewhere near the Promised Land
we've been heard asking how long it will take, stuffed into frustrating hours
and, fearless of man, eyes soaking in Baptism
he tells us
"Not Long."
shouldn't be long
any day now

Glory!
Hallelujah!

Glory!
Hallelujah!

Glory!
Hallelujah!


...
for one of the Greatest Poets ever.
-andy