CHANGE

By Cindy LaJoy

One day a man came along
Who had a vision for change

He wanted America to unify
But for many the idea was strange

For the past was about the divide
That existed between you and I
But along came that man with a vision
And he said “Come with me…let’s try…”

No more shall we see how we’re different
Let’s see what together we’ll do
When we cast off the old way of business
With an approach and a way that is new

You see you and I are Americans
He said with a smile so broad
We can still disagree vehemently
Yet not call one another a “fraud”

“Let go of the past” he encouraged
Looking back will not help us move forth
We can learn from our yesterdays, certainly
But let go of the anger henceforth

And slowly the hope gained momentum
That maybe…just maybe we’d found
A leader who might actually lead us
Instead of leaving us bitter and bound

It was gradual, this new way of seeing
We began to cast titles aside
He shows us that labels are weighty
And our reliance on them should subside

For our hope relies on just one thing
A unity we should embrace
A pride in one label…”American”
All divisions we should erase.

Now this man with the strangest ideas
Will lead and do his best to uphold
The values he laid out before us
And for years on the trail extolled

But one man…even one with a vision
Can not change the world on his own
Our culpability can’t be ignored
We all have sins which must be atoned

For our leaders, well they might divide us
But we sure bought into the line
That we are fundamentally different
Instead of seeing ties that still bind

If we want the change we so yearn for
It begins not with a leader, you see
No one else is responsible for it…

That Change, it begins with me.