With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations
from The Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln
the wrecking crew is here
a cheshire voice purred very near
and disappeared
amongst the statuary
of the waning years excised.
blood spilled was not enough
apparently
and overnight the granite snows
bloomed into tears
for what was lost
at such a cost
as one by one
from the court of what remained
old statues were carted away
proving the righteousness
of the current day
the retrial of the past
convened, reconvened
like a school test in a dream
you didn't see coming
and so, were not prepared
for what you thought
or felt, caught unaware:
for kicked in the head
on the summer ground
a statue
cannot make a sound
it's mute
and though
it's never been alive
it's been decreed
decreed that it must die
be publicly shamed
no witness to a grave
until not a shard remains
of the dateless angels
commemorating grief
on the wrong side of the coin
lo these many years after
and stripping the
last last shred of dignity away
is now the game some want to play
all those intent and jubilant
in venting wrath this dubious way while
Christ said from the wings
the stones would cry out
the stones would cry out
the stones would cry out
except that grieving
was no longer allowed
out loud for the renegades
or in the public square
anywhere
and arrogant vacancy proclaims the lie
that they were ever even here
let's make it clear to the amputees
who died anyway on a blood drenched field
chanted the wrecking crew
chanting the wrecking crew
to whatever ghosts were listening
and could be made to suffer more
mary angela douglas 17 august 2017
from The Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln
the wrecking crew is here
a cheshire voice purred very near
and disappeared
amongst the statuary
of the waning years excised.
blood spilled was not enough
apparently
and overnight the granite snows
bloomed into tears
for what was lost
at such a cost
as one by one
from the court of what remained
old statues were carted away
proving the righteousness
of the current day
the retrial of the past
convened, reconvened
like a school test in a dream
you didn't see coming
and so, were not prepared
for what you thought
or felt, caught unaware:
for kicked in the head
on the summer ground
a statue
cannot make a sound
it's mute
and though
it's never been alive
it's been decreed
decreed that it must die
be publicly shamed
no witness to a grave
until not a shard remains
of the dateless angels
commemorating grief
on the wrong side of the coin
lo these many years after
and stripping the
last last shred of dignity away
is now the game some want to play
all those intent and jubilant
in venting wrath this dubious way while
Christ said from the wings
the stones would cry out
the stones would cry out
the stones would cry out
except that grieving
was no longer allowed
out loud for the renegades
or in the public square
anywhere
and arrogant vacancy proclaims the lie
that they were ever even here
let's make it clear to the amputees
who died anyway on a blood drenched field
chanted the wrecking crew
chanting the wrecking crew
to whatever ghosts were listening
and could be made to suffer more
mary angela douglas 17 august 2017
