The Arc
oil on canvas, 1924–1930
The Arc
For Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr.
Revelation 18
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The arc of the moral universe extends
into the centuries that will dawn without you.
Children with low hymns and dreams of a moon
dissolving into the pale blue and returning
to alight over better homes and drawers of water
with their simple thanks for the gift of many waters.
The fruits of God that the lustful consumed
return to thee in the drawing rooms and lonely apartments
of the better time keepers of Selma and Normandy’s rain
and good booksellers and women seeking mourning and peace.
Who will guard the guardians and call the angels back?
How may I call for vengeance and keep my soul?
You formed the beachhead against the verses:
“how much hath Babylon glorified herself with slaves?
How much does she lust for spices and the souls of men?”
And you fought with tenacity and words of faith in our Messiah
against the tormenters of a better Earth and destroyers
of the dreams of children guarding the middle distance.
Let us light the candles that shall shine for all time
on the promises of the bridegroom and bride
across aisles strewn with high flowers and noontime sun.
Let us speak for the invited and ask for a fair portion
of another world with the songs of new speakers
and the seeds of generations in towers of justice.
