The headlines were like jabs in the heart,

every day a new assault,

our grandkids dying far away,

rampant torture of our prisoners

Habeus Corpus disembodied,

the world's increasing disapproval,

the national rift ever widening.

How did we hang in through this nightmare?

We fretted about our children's and our grandchildren's survival

physically and spiritually

in the dark cave our country became.

There was no light

One day, a glimmer beamed through the darkness.

We waited in acute suspense

hoping it would illuminate our black chamber.

Hours, days, months ticked by

while the light maddeningly flashed on and off

And, then, finally, our cavern was flooded with golden sunshine.

The people's voices cried out in joy and

the lair transformed into a garden of luminous multiple colors.

We were home again at long last.