For the Nation

"It is easy to forget
how young we are,
still a great experiment,
neighbors bound by ideals and yet
so often disjointed without them.

"The progress and backlash
can make us dizzy with hope and fear,
for this is not organized or linear work,
still becoming.

"We ride the rhythms
of our country's better angels and deepest shame,
so much striving in vain since
we do not re-member every member or
confess with our whole heart.

"And so we keep breathing and labor
through these contractions of civilization —
shouting in pain
pushing on instinct
desperate to meet the one
we are still making,
to hear her cry out
alive and free."