the reflecting pool

a poem on the birthday of a nation

birthdays offer a natural occasion to reflect
on one’s life; so, every year i go down to
the reflecting pool 
to think about what was 
and is and is to come

but this year was different:
someone fenced it in
and posted armed military guards 
around it to keep people away

i could get just close enough, though,
to see the algae, the peeling paint,
and dead ducks

“what happened?” i asked;
but, i got no straight answers;
so, i walked the whole perimeter
to see what anyone could see

this year, i saw there 
(floating on the surface)
the hands and feet, arms and legs
of schoolgirls blown to bits 
by a (mis)guided missile;
i saw the asylum seekers shipped out
like cargo, adrift in the angry ocean,
boxed up and left to die; 
i saw life frozen 
by ice;
i saw all of this…blackened by oil

lingering by the pool used to feel
like gazing into eternity;
it was deep here once;
some years ago, you could dream here;
you could walk right up to the water
and when you looked into it,
you could see more than just yourself;
you could see all the faces of history,
reflecting back at you,
you could see your face in everyone else’s—
all the pleasure and pain,
the regrets and triumphs,
the promises (both broken and kept)
redeemed by honest confession

when i see what we have become today
it makes me wonder if the beauty
i saw years ago was really just
a portrait of a possible future,
a time when what we see here
will really reflect the truth—
no distortions, no excuses,
no scapegoats about the decay,
the mess we ourselves have made
laid bare, asking for grace

i suppose i will try again next year;
until then, i wonder:
is it possible to pray
for the restoration
of the dream that never was?
i hope so,
i hope so

………………………..

the reflecting pool
by troy cady