Beyond the Fallen Towers

America will always be
Standing tall and proud and free,
Stood we through that Boston night,
‘Til dawn we saw our Flag’s proud flight.

To guide each humble little task
From Founding hands a torch was passed;
Be it ours to hold it high,
Upon this land, beneath this sky.

And what awesome splendor shows that flame!
A land that has a sacred claim:
A nation forged by every race that be,
Enshrined in hallowed light and equal majesty.

Thus when we speak ‘tis with the might,
Of each color, creed, and book of light;
So let us now, by sacred vow,
Address the task before us now.

To overcome a hate that’s blind,
With every heart and soul and mind;
To let the great Lamp flame and flare,
And cast the shadows from each butcher’s lair.

And then to build great Towers more,
To gleam the New York sun,
Above the hallowed ground where now doth rest,
Full-thousand missing maidens, full-thousand murdered sons.

So when this age is over, and we have gone to dust,
Those who stand upon this land,
Can view the work of our heart and hand,
And raise each Star and Stripe anew,
America forever true.
Neville Macaulife