abolishing slavery
remains perhaps, Lincoln's enduring legacy,
a monumental act of personal bravery
in the face of hatred, prejudice
and the basest knavery.
It paved the way for the inauguration
of the first black president in a unified nation
who begins today his second term,
making some cheer and others squirm--
I pray he never comes to harm.
Martin Luther King Jr. could see the prize
he climbed the mountain and saw with his eyes
then he climbed back down and an assassin’s bullet
took his life,
just as another one did to Abraham--
Ford's Theater-- eighteen hundred and sixty five..
But the dream would not die
would not be buried in the ground,
more than a century later, the lost would be found
and not only found, but elevated
elected, respected--
inaugurated
on the mall
for All.