Bring Back Hope Mr Obama
Dear Mr Obama
As the day approaches for you to take your place
After all the hype and expectation,
I think you should know
That when you stand up to make your speech...
I want you to blow me away
on your opening day
I want to see you glow,
float,
feet 10 inches off the ground
I want to feel my head swell
and my eyes expand as you speak,
Like it did back in '82 when I saw U2
live and unleashed for the first time
and thought that I had touched heaven and hell
with the same ears.
I want those promised words of change
to soar,
unhampered,
filling the world with light
with love and the possibility
that things might just get better,
now you are there.
I want to hear brave words of daring,
challenging words for a challenged world
not threats of war and more of the same
No spin, no bullshit, no verbal placebos
I want to hear you speak clearly,
unduplicitous in your statements of intent
no grey areas in your phrasing
You made the promises
Now keep them.
Tell us who you are,
do not give us deflections
meshed in the webs
of convention
or compromise,
don't rhetoric me, like a preacher
Give me facts I can believe in,
give me reality because that is where I live
On your opening day,
I want the words to fly,
tears to fall, throats to close in disbelief
and hearts to swell with the unbelievable
possibility
of real hope...
Make our souls sing, in thanks,
that at last we have found a real leader
a man of the people
a founder of peace
an inspiration
a weapon against evil
corruption and divisiveness
A good man, who cannot be bought
Could we not then imagine that God
might possibly exist
and have finally given the world
a decent bloke to steer it?
I know it's a lot to ask,
but on your opening day
Mr Obama
When you stand there before the world
ready to show us
where you want to take us next
Take a moment
Think of all the hopes vested in you
and please tell us,
in that single spotlit second of history
how you intend to change our world
and bring hope back.
By Carey Lenehan
© 2009 Carey Lenehan
(All rights reserved)
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