Let Them Not Say

 

  "It's been the honor of my life to serve you. " he wrote just after 9 am. "You made me a better leader and a better man." then: "I won't stop; I'll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor and love." And: "I'm still asking you to believe - not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.  I believe in you." -President Barack Obama January 20, 2017

Let Them Not Say

  Jane Hirshfield 1953

Let them not say:   we did not see it.
We saw.

Let them not say:   we did not hear it.
We heard.

Let them not say:     they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.

Let them not say:   it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.

Let them not say:     they did nothing.
We did not-enough.

Let them say, as they must say something:

A kerosene beauty.
It burned.

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned.


Thank you for your service to our country.  President Obama.   I will continue to follow your lead with a hopeful heart. May God bless and keep you well and strong. You have served us well.I will miss you.