Lincoln

Now here was a guy
Who was all things to all people:
Cruel and merciful;
Peace-lover yet fighter;
Protecting slavery and freeing slaves.

I, too, wish to be
All things to all people:
Alive yet dead;
Scoundrel and well-bred;
Kind of heart yet stubborn of head.

I wish to bring you close to me,
So close I taste your thoughts;
And I wish to flee so far from you,
Go somewhere among stars –
That little planet Pluto.

But Pluto is now a rock:
A planet no more – a victim for sure
Of the cruel narratives of history,
Of all things and all people . . .
Like Lincoln,
Like you,
Like me.