She is a River

“Women can change better’n a man,” Ma said soothingly. “Woman got all her life in her arms. Man got it all in his head.” “Man, he lives in jerks-baby born an’ a man dies, an’ that’s a jerk-gets a farm and looses his farm, an’ that’s a jerk. Woman, its all one flow, like a stream, little eddies, little waterfalls, but the river, it goes right on. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath She is a River She flows from the hearts of the people In the hope of preserving justice for all On the battle-scarred Potomac Where we became a nation With her brave and unselfish history of law and order Her tributaries lead through the deltas Of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Bending and stretching with assurance Curving through the fruitful valleys Of the golden state of promise As she rose to the heights of public service She rolls along the mighty Mississippi Tendering southern resistance along the Missouri In the heartland of the American farmer Who has forgotten the words of equity She channels rushing into a new economy Diving into the waters of the Hudson Unafraid of the rich and wealthy corporations And its leaders that have exploited the common man She runs with strength and fortitude Surging with the untamed rapids of conviction Where the headwaters of the great Columbia Blends with the Snake River Where the wilderness and our historical presence Will be cherished and unabused She forges through the frozen tributaries with Her communion to the uninviting wilderness of the Yukon And the tropical warmth of Hanalei rivers Becoming the spirit of great explorers who have made America The heartland of discovery And in reaching the oceans of disparity She breaches our common boundaries Flowing beyond the seas with diplomacy and civility To find the rest of the world as a worthy friend So that the rivers of democracy find a resting place She is a river of life and the world as we know it Her tides and eddies nurture all that is truthful, kind and just Harnessing the power of democracy for us all She is the watershed for the world That unifies us together as one