I want to hear America singing
all those varied carols you mentioned.
But it’s noise now, Walt, more shouting
than song. As if volume makes a leader.
Any singer knows being louder
just makes discord, and harmony
needs constant attunement
to every other singer.
I want to hear America listening.
Want a citizen chorus that knows
our voices are only as good as our ears.
I want a new song that begins
with a silence that stretches
from sea to shining sea—
the kind of silence that holds
every one of us, every part of us.
And when the many parts do arise,
glorious in their differences,
I want to hear inside them
the careful attention that tunes
them to each other, I want to hear
in our song the deep listening that makes
even the most uncomfortable dissonance
beautiful.