The World Has Come To Us

By Tarnue Johnson



The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

February 21, 2004

This poem is dedicated to all our fallen heroes and heroines and especially to the patience and resilience of the Liberian people. The day is near when no one shall dwell on the mountaintop. Indeed, the day is near when we shall look ahead in dignity on the path of glory and transformation of our commonwealth into a current of stability and an oasis of freedom, hope and prosperity. As we live in the best of times and the worst of times, let us be optimistic about possibilities and what could happen to exert a positive influence on our fundamental human condition. Let us be optimistic, essentially, about reinvigorating our better angels and the Spirit of the Nation.

The World Has Come To Us

The world has come to us.
Destruction is easy, or not so fanciful…
See how many lives and things we have destroyed.
Did they want to rebuild?
Or so I think!
The world has come to visit us.
The world has occupied our citadels.
Our consciences, our preoccupations, our palavers.

Did they ever care?
Could they ever care?
Did they care a little?
Should they care?
Should anyone care?
Why should anyone care but our poor souls?

Should the spirits of our ancestors care?
Did they pay their dues to us?
Have we paid our dues to them?
How should we read the signs?
The world has come to us.

The world must play its part
The power of all the earth
Is it sufficient to play the trick?
Is it all that we need?
Is it all that we cannot do without?
The world has come to us.

Why so slow?
Why so little in so much time?
Is hope on the way?
We refuse to do the postmortems.
We refuse to write the eulogies.
We refuse to let go because we would have let go of our souls.
We refuse to cast aspersions on our souls.

Is help on the way?
Help is on the way!
So say the eternal optimist.
So say our patience.
So say our perseverance.
So say our tenacity.
Optimism, optimism!
So say the Eternal Absolute!
His merciful!
His gracious!