America Awakens

Long have we labored to perfect this nation,
Shedding the false images that do not reflect our true nature:
We are one people, indivisible,
Born of wholeness and to
Wholeness we return.

With one momentous leap,
We have crossed a chasm forever;
Our blazing torch of freedom
Now illumines a new future.

Never again will we be as divided
By the color of our skin,
Or the boundaries of our heart,
Or the limits of our imagination.

Our nation wept tenderly as we recognized the
Healing of an ancient wound.
We offer up our tears as a sacrament to wash
Away the stain of yesterday's illusions
And see today with new eyes.

Obama is our new President
But even more he is our new template:
A face of America with
The strength of a warrior and the compassion of a healer
The pride of a patriot and the embrace of a global citizen
The wisdom of a scholar and the humility of a community organizer.

He is our country's better nature:
A blend of the best of our world's cultures,
Made real as a divine gift
So that we each better remember who we are
And what we can yet become.

America has slumbered in a long fog of forgetting;
Today we awaken to the pristine sun
Of a new day, pregnant with possibilities.

Obama opens the door of opportunity
For each of us to give our greatest gifts
Serve our grandest vision,
And strive for the wholeness that has always
Been our birthright and our destiny.

The world celebrates beside us with the
Sweet knowledge that America awakens again.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election

Follow Stephen H. Dinan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stephendinan

Comments

[vegas9999]

For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president.

[MountAlipaz]

Nice poem, Stephen.

[MountAlipaz]

Whew! What beautiful poetic sentiments.
By a dreamer of dreams bigger than Martin's.
Are we there at the promised land yet,
Or are there still miles and miles to go?

[MPeter]

Thank you Stephen. What a great poem. Thank you for working for change. Thank you for helping this dream materialize. Yes, you helped us all reclaim our America back. What a moment to me American. Thank you...thank you!