for Chelsea Manning
Later we would miss you
so much.
But on that day
we had you with us
& we were so
with you.
Your happiness,
of a man
knowing he was
on his way
to glory
to being shot down;
a man beaming
with triumph
to see us
the advancing crowds,
caused us to cheer inwardly
in response to every
word.
Later we would recall
for our children
and grandchildren
the thrill of being
in your presence
as you rose
to meet your day.
You were so happy!
Let us not forget that.
Fear, doubt, the most horrible
criticisms evil genius
could devise
had not stood
finally
or at all
against your love.
that day
looked different
to us
who had never known them
in their free form.
They had a look
of release
of knowing they were bound also
by chains and shackles
& were at last
shaking themselves free.
Perched in a tree
better to see & hear
grateful for the tree’s
rustling witness
on that fateful day
& meticulously careful
not to harm
its leafy offering
of vantage point (it would later be cut down, of course).
I lived the long moment
of your address to us
to the full.
They would edit and condense
it later
to dull our memory
and your impact
to make it, and you, more manageable
for them.
But we were not deceived.
You were brilliant
and your message never confined
only to dreams
though you were only a few
from your death
at 39.
What did you give us,
Martin, at such sacrifice
to yourself?
After 50 years
of pondering the gift
of your life
I know you gave us
Consciousness
of our inalienable
rights
as beings not only
of our country (a mystery in itself)
but more importantly
of our Universe.
And beyond that
you showered us, our wounded and weakened
psyches,
with your example
of fearless love.
Fearless love for those beyond
immediate family
& friends
is very rare.
But you had it.
I think the Beings
who destroyed
your body
felt,
looking at you,
that they’d been robbed,
shortchanged.
How could you
son
possess the gold
that eluded them;
gold, for all their digging
all over the earth,
they’d never have?
Not only that:
Martin, Beloved,
you ran the race
for Love
and won it.
We know this
for sure
50 years later.
No longer the girls & boys
of 18 & 19
arriving at the March
on cheap buses
from all over
the place—
We know it, Martin,
by our own devotion to life,
to each other,
to forests, rivers, and trees that support us
through every devastation,
by our cheering of every
young voice
that raises the bar of love
to your standard;
we know it by our gratitude
Martin.
We know it by our faith,
not in leaders
but in our belief that love
can overcome our fears.
after all the dry years
of bearing your memory
most often
in silence,
We know it
by our tears.