Jim Healey Poet Free verse

Where is the Shining City on a Hill?

Where is the shining city upon a hill?                                                                                                        It may be out there…somewhere.                                                                                                               But its lights have dimmed…                                                                                                                            There are dark shadows                                                                                                                             where little or no light shines.

Where is this beacon of hope?                                                                                                                  The eyes of all people are now searching…                                                                                                It seems the city on a hill has become little more than a rumor                                                                       beset by threats without and chaos within.

It was said that the city was constructed                                                                                                                                                                             by people aware of a great responsibility                                                                                                   and they came from everywhere…                                                                                                           they did not come as black, white, red or yellow…                                                                                   they did not come as Christians, Muslims or Jews…                                                                                   nor as conservatives or liberals, Republicans or Democrats.                                                                        They came from all corners of the earth…                                                                                                         and they came to be Americans…                                                                                                                awed by what had come before                                                                                                                    and proud to be where they were.
                                                                            
It was a proud city built on foundations                                                                                                  stronger than storms and seas…                                                                                                                                                                                       blessed by God - whatever they conceived God to be –                                                                               teeming with people                                                                                                                                just wanting to live in harmony and peace.

And if the city had walls                                                                                                                               then the walls had doors                                                                                                                               and the doors were never locked…                                                                                                             They were open for anyone                                                                                                                         with the will and the heart to get there.

The city on a hill had a glow                                                                                                                          that held steady no matter what storm…                                                                                                          a beacon for those from forsaken places                                                                                                 struggling through the darkness to where                                                                                                there was warmth, brightness and safety…                                                                                                        a place they could truly call home.

But gradually, the city began to crumble                                                                                       insidiously from within:                                                                                                                                       the pillars that held it in place slowly eroded…                                                                                        erosions created by prejudice – ad hoc and systemic.                                                                                    Now the erosion, decline and decadence                                                                                            pervade from the top and trickles downward                                                                                        spreading its poison…                                                                                                                                        A hellstorm is lurking.                                                                                           

And yet…                                                                                                                                                      in spite of the darkness, light still shines.                                                                                                        The shining city on a hill may recover                                                                                                      because we have to believe that 
love trumps anger,                                                                                                                                        hope trumps fear, 
optimism trumps despair.

And we’ll just keep on keeping on.

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