Lady Liberty Speaks
Art History
I stand erect with outstretched hand Representing liberty, for many, a foreign land My fire dances an incessant jubilant glow
I represent hope for the oppressed to sow
Pungent salts mixed with glassy sands
Linger on my lamenting lips
Patinaed ears serenaded by human plans
For the masses willing to endure perilous trips
I separated tyranny from average men's fears
Completed in 1885, a French residual gift
from the Revolutionary years
Some may say I am mute,
But I spoke in 1944,
Did you not hear my visceral ROAR?
Blink, blink, blink "VICTORY"
I delivered a delightful message highlight
across a star spangled banner twilight
My shout referenced the end of WWII
A war American people had hoped to eschew
Before you come to visit me,
Open your eyes diligently
"Do you see the iron ore disjointed?"
My right foot is LIFTED and FREE
With thirty five expansive 'eyes'
under seven spiked tiers
I've winked and blinked countless
times over the many years
I monitor seven continents
and mighty oceans vast
Proclaiming Enlightened Liberty
for all the bold who pass
Vessel sails chatter resoundingly
as they advance in the glorious wind
Crescent waves come to rock me
a lullaby, their songs calm me astoundingly
Hurricanes too, have left their calling card
In my harbor, a thirty two foot wave blantantly
accompanied Sandy, she felt the need to hit Hard
They pierce and sting my eyes gravely
Begetting cataracts over time
Alas though the absolute most vulgar vision my thirty seven 'eyes' ever witnessed was
When two planes made a purposeful incision
By all accounts, most evil of what man does
Ah, in contrast a Brilliant Shooting Star
sprinkles its luminous dust
A watering can akin to epsom salt from afar
massaging my weary bust
Now my city faces a new kind of challenge
amidst a global world
As The Comfort shares this history with me
and new realities unfurl
"Look what you've done,"
we chant to "The Powers That Be"
Take heed, there is NO Humanity without
without You and Me
So as the Mighty storms frigidly wash me,
a dusty old body, and lightening arrogantly shocks my heart to awaken me once more,
Harshly
We Will Prevail, We will Not Fail
And to the US Naval Ship Comfort's Waves
That share their liquid lullaby with me ...
I accept their infinite, whispered gratitude
For I am graciously placed
in this longitude and latitude
Copyright © Donna
Copyright © Donna Roberts | Year Posted 2020
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