onward

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, 

but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. 1

Hatred. 

Bigotry.

Ignorance. 

Advocacy.

Exploitation.

Manipulation.

Discrimination.

Underestimation...

They've taken their toll. 

But during the last decade-plus, 

Disengagement has served me well.

 
In bowing out, I've kept my cool and fortified my heart.
I've kept my head down, my mouth shut. 

And I've listened. 

Wondered.

Waited. 

Tell me, he asks. 2

Why should it be my loneliness,

Why should it be my song, 

Why should it be my dream 

deferred 

overlong?

On the pulse of a cool morning, draped in a long black coat, she responds. 3 

History, despite its wrenching pain, 

Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage, 

Need not be lived again. 

 

Lift up your eyes upon

The day breaking for you.

 

Give birth again

To the dream. 

Twenty-eight years later, a young woman in bright yellow climbs the same stage and commands the world's attention. 4 

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it

If only we're brave enough to be it 

Bated breath. Purple coat. 

A dream fulfilled, she takes an oath. 

An application. A resignation. 

Light remains. Exhalation. 

As one life ends, a second begins. 

A new hope dawns,

Love wins. 

And I’m done 

keeping 

quiet. 

---

1. King Solomon. Proverbs 13:12. ~950 BC.

2. Hughes, Langston. "Tell me." 1951.

3. Angelou, Maya. "On the pulse of morning." 1993.

4. Gorman, Amanda. "The hill we climb." 2021.