the fall
First I fell into love
and you were there, and so
was my son
and my sister
and then my students and
friends were there
and the whole thing started to get
out of hand
and Tuesday night
I was falling into love
and a man I have never met—he
was there, tall and dark
and his family was there, and
I stood on the shore of a mighty
ocean, its waves were black
and brown, white and every color
of the rainbow and falling
deeper than ever into love...
250,000 people were there
in that love
and an army of men in blue
on horses, and the horses were in
love and in love with the city
and, finally, even this vast
nation falling into a deep,
boundless love so that
the whole world
was dancing in the streets
and singing about it
because there was no way
to contain it any longer.
Swept into the undertow
we surrendered to it and found
we were not drowning after all
but breathing
like the first time, together.
Peg Syverson
Grant Park
Chicago, November 4, 2008