HER TORCH BURNS FOREVER BRIGHTLY
(A Conversation with the Statue of Liberty)

“Lovely and regal lady, for so long you stand;
Out in yonder harbour, torch high in your hand,
When so many new Americans did come across the sea;
Yours was the first face they saw – true nobility!

“Many years have come and gone, and still your torch is high;
Wars claimed many of your sons and yet you do not cry,
Tell me, Lady Liberty, I do want to know;
What is it that you cling to and would you tell me so?”

A voice above a whisper is what I faintly heard;
A mother’s voice, with pain and loss, found in every word,
She told me she has many sons and many daughters too;
And not all of them came back home from what they set to do.

She told me some of her children are still over there;
Lost, but not forgotten, longing for her care,
She said that she waits in the harbour, torch high and e’er so bright;
Hoping her children will see it, through the day and all the night.

“Dear caring and noble mother,” said I while choking back on tears;
“Your children have been gone so long, some for many years,
Rest your arm, put down your torch, accept that they are not – “
And then she said, “ – they are not dead! Some of them have fought –

“For Liberty and Freedom, because I taught them well;
And they learned of Principles, and Values, you can tell,
Because they fought for just not us, but for those across the wave;
And now, my darling children, are the ones we need to save.

“I’ll stand here in this harbour, my torch forever burn;
And just like any mother, for them my heart does yearn,
And I choose to stay here, Stranger, and I shall not sway;
Until I can embrace my children, all of them, some day.”

©Copyright April 1999 by Kale Liam Hobbes