1. There is no room for ambiguity in a patriot’s dream.
The constitution of thought is a sacred text.
Alone, defining the perimeters of this space,
She talks to our eyes; nothing is held back.

To walk in a new land we can only muse
On the direction the sky has taken us.
Each dark step makes the road longer than memory.
She is the strength of a pine tree bending in the storm.

2. If she is the solemn hymn of the flower arranger,
The music is the hand held out to the child.
If she is the power of the masseuse's hands,
It is the arms offering shelter to those in need.

If she was once the bartender pouring the final round,
Music is the soup bowl offering hope to the homeless.
If she is the metronome of the dancer’s last movement
It is the archangel seeking justice for those who cannot fly.

3. Imagine the piano’s pledge of allegiance to black & white keys.
No segregation of sharp & flat; or everything in the key of C.
The notes make words and find us wanting.
The melody echoes in the forest, in the street.
We need the nuances of dark and light
to show us the way is infinitely more complex
& vast than previously imagined.
There is more to it than seizing what’s left of the night.

4. She carries the burden of freedom forward.
In the way light falls on the summits
We learn there are more mountains to climb.
We come to the beginning on solid ground,

Learn anew how our feet measure the way.

Download a musical excerpt from Michelle: A Patriot’s Dream (mp3 format).