I wasn’t there to see the dogs let loose
Or the people bombarded, and told what’s the use.
I never saw them give their speech of dreams
Or hear the words personally, by any means.
Never stood on the front lines
Saying we shall overcome but, was one of a million people
Who saw this moment come.
Screaming yes we can! And yes we will!
We were the ones who made our predecessors dreams come real.
With the coldest days, it was warm as could be
This day was marked with joyful empathy.
When he arrived so proud, so tall
He hardly spoke a word of one
But together were all, and if not cared for
Then together well fall.
No I didn’t get to see the great Martin Luther King
Or stand on the lines,
No I wasn’t there to look
“X” in the eyes
Or even sit next to Rosa as she was denied.
But I like to believe now, that they all are smiling
Saying, maybe to each other, how’s that for timing?
No I wasn’t a real civil rights activist
In the times of times
But I’m just twenty and that was some time ago.
However I did get to see
Most of their dreams to come.
A black man named president
Leading the throne.
I was there first hand
To make a chance to believe
To cast a vote or bleed.
And I watched first hand
As he made us believe, “yes we can”
And together were one,
I was there to see him win
Not by a little but a great margin.
Then I was there, in the warm blistering cold
To see him solemnly swear to be the best man, anywhere.
And as the world watched
I could only think.
By any means
Is this what they had in mind
When they spoke of having a dream.
T.y Holland
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-wasn-t-there-to-obama/
