America's Moment Poem by Gregory (gshaw57) Upshaw

It was Tuesday evening—November 4 2008
When I gander toward the sky
My eyes teary with pride—

It was truly a hypnotic moment
A historic moment
A moment of unity—a political moment—
An event for the centuries—that historians will remember—

This will be a moment for cultural unification
A dream comes true
Dreams echoed by (KING) many decades ago—

Two centuries remove from slavery
Two steps forward—one-step backward
How did this come to be?

An African-American male
Polarized a nation
Embedded within two cultures
One African—One European
This is America—the true melting pot of ethnicities—

Like the pied-piper of Hamelin
He reached across a nation
Empowered our youth
Like no one else before—

So I say to my daughters
Who were giving high-fives that night
Remember this day—this moment in time
That a black man name Obama—our president elect
Stun a nation
With an land-slide victory
Like LBJ of old
A victory resounded globally across the world—

So, I say to you Obama
Remember this day
For you carried the dreams of many great activist
Of yesteryears—

Yet, as I retire for the evening
My thoughts a-drift
I think of my parents and the historic moment they missed—

Then my realization became so real
Their presence is embedded within my heart—and dreams—

So as I close my eyes
I know god’s presence was profoundly here
For this night our country full of diversity
Blessed a man name Obama!

With a unification for all
To bear witness too
As in god we trust—we elect our 44th president
And
His name is Barack Obama—

God Bless America!

Written by
Gregory E Upshaw