A Poem of Appreciation, A Promise to Obama
by Kalyana Champlain
Nov. 5, 2008
The poet deep inside
was strangled by
Disbelief…
So I am a day late.
It took me some time for it to
sink into my
Conscious that
Yes You Did.
The One.
Who dared to believe
that we were too.
Who walked the steps needed
that held the conviction that
NOW was the time.
There could be no other moment.
My spirit was filled with this feeling
that danced with drums and the colors of
your fathers homeland
representing a healing that
mirrored the relationship between the
microcosm and the
Macro.
From Kansas to Africa.
Only in America.
Your grandmother’s spirit passing on
to give you the fuel you needed
to finish this race.
The elders always know.
This moment: the cocoa butter
to begin to soothe the scars from the
lashings upon my back.
This moment: that we take on
your pledge as our own.
The pledge that has run through
the moons and stars of history…
Passed down from generation to
generation…
Lifetime after lifetime.
We cannot give up now.
Your victory is merely the first step.
My work has only just begun.
Each day my responsibility is to
be the best I can be, in a response to
what you have achieved.
Your life is the conduit for change.
It is our actions that can help you
translate that to something concrete.
And…
In the morning I woke up with puffy
eyes thinking of how today was
the day that I had longed for…
A longing that was ingrained in my
helix like a song that never goes away
until you
hum the tune…
and then spawns more
music.
And for every 1st there
must be
9
more.
I may rest my faith in you to
lead,
But hold my promise to use it
to show me how to
lead as well.
Remembering that all falls
are the ingredients for Rising.
And no attempt is ever wasted.
Your biological makeup is the illustration
of our HEALING.
This is no coincidence, though the demons
of doubt may come at you in many forms
to make you believe that it may be.
No. Let it go. Do not let it eat you.
You are the one.
Because you are each one of us.
And so we will be the ones
to help you remember.
That each piece that is u
are the pieces of our history that needed
to be reconciled.
There will be days when the burden lays
heavy upon your back.
There will be days when it seems as though
perhaps this was not the time.
There will be days when we may forget to answer
your call.
But never stop.
Through the climbs and falls…
Trepidation and pain….
Know that a flame can always be lit.
It is this flame that has carried you here,
and brought us to you.
It is the flame of
Hope.
Your presidency is my promise.
United we stand
Divided we fall….
Today I am proud to be an American.
Consider this my declaration of interdependence…
You said it best, my brother…
WE are the change We have been waiting for.
Thank you for showing us the way.