When I was a child
sitting at my mother’s knee
she would tell me
(with shining eyes)
about a time of hope
a time of JFK and RFK and MLK
and Civil Rights marches
This is the hope for change
she had when she was young
and starting her life as an adult
When I was young and starting out
I got Ronald Reagan
which didn’t give me a lot of hope
for change or anything else
It was not until a couple of years ago
that I began to feel my hope
A hope that was tiny and faint
(the kind of hope that follows
years of despair)
Today I see a dream fulfilled
the hope of a nation
CHANGE—I cannot say it often or loudly enough
I do not tire of the words HOPE and CHANGE
They do not become cliché
Someday my son, just 18,
and my daughter, 23,
will tell the children
sitting at their knees
(with shining eyes)
about a time of hope
a time of Barack Obama
and the fight for Civil Rights for gays
This is the hope they have for change
as they are young
and starting theirs lives as adults.