I Stand on History's Corner (Challenge Poem)

I Stand on History’s Corner I once was called a State House, now I’m Independence Hall I stand on history’s corner on a Philadelphia mall I face the green where freedom rings in silence to the ear But the bell tolls daily in the minds of those who want to hear In the chambers of my meeting place, two hundred years ago Words of strong debate from out my chambers overflowed A government was founded and a portrait finely etched And the face of freedom’s guarantee on parchment had been sketched I listened to the arguments, I heard the strong debate I shed a tear of joy when they discussed the future's fate They granted all a freedom that nobody could refute The right to speak what he believed was granted absolute It is a freedom that’s denied to millions on this earth Yet many here still don’t appreciate its golden worth For every freedom guaranteed, there rests a certain trust In the right of conscience, right of thought, to say the things we must Every day the tourists come, to visit chamber halls To hear the words of independence echo off the walls They glance out rippled windows at the beauty of the green Some understand the magnitude of all that they have seen There is an unmarked boundary by which speech is well embraced That does not smile upon the words that scar and that deface That offend another’s tenants, that degrade and that abuse From one without a conscience, where his freedom is misused But yet between the lines of freedom, tolerance is clear Sometimes we listen to the things we never want to hear Then anger and mistrust arise within the murky mist Of one who utters or displays what principles resist But yet he has the right to what his conscience will attest To those I say, just turn your back and silently protest Rejection is the deepest pain that one will ever feel And silence speaks the loudest as it’s echoes what is real There is another boundary that blows in freedoms air That does not allow the right to speech that causes one's despair Inciting danger or upheaval, with a word or sign Intended to create despair and others to malign The law will call to justice, the one who oversteps The line of freedom’s limits with the weight of ignorance He who's passed the boundaries, marked on a wooden floor Where freedom was first granted, never walked into my door For if he had, he would be overcome with the debate As ghosts of freedom argue in the favor of his fate He’d hear his name be mentioned as deserving, to the wise For “every individual” was equal in their eyes He’d understand the privilege of living in a land Where censorship’s forbidden to the eyes of every man Where every pen is free to write the thoughts within his soul And every mind is free in seeking knowledge as its goal I stand on history’s corner, a building with a name Where people look at freedom’s bell through rippled window pane And realize their eyes are gazing through the very glass Of eyes that once looked out as well in shadows of the past Come here to see where freedom’s voice was duly given birth Come here to understand the measure of your freedom's worth Written February 24th, 2002 © on Feb 24 2002 01:14 AM PST   0 • 10