New Constellation

Proclaim ye liberty's firstborn child;
Ring out sweet bell, resounding wild!
Lift here for slaves the radiant lamp
Beside the golden door.
Look away, look away to the heavenly Light
That guides our nation not by sight,
'Neath starry diadem and stripes
Made one from shore to shore.

But prideful sin benights the land
And spurns the providential Hand,
So let us pray for what remains:
Our children and our souls.
Look away, look away and beyond the years
Though our cities stand awash in tears,
With banner lowered to half-mast,
The bell for sorrow tolls.

Yet full aglow our hearts will stay
Until consumed by perfect day
When truth shall make us free at last
And love shall be our law.
Look away, look away to the glorious One,
Whose light is as the morning sun,
Ablaze with fiery wings to heal
And mend our every flaw.

This poem won first place for the September 2024 poetry contest