I just don’t know how to say, goodbye, to you 

              I think I never will… 

You ascended blood washed stairs

and reached…a dream

but then you found yourself standing against

a full-house stream

Heir to a wall-street failure, your insight brought us out

for we were teetering on financial destruction

yet, that superlative deed has been forgotten

like a depreciated item…in an auction

Refusing to lose even a bit of self

you opened to us a priceless wealth…

thus, what was right …was right

and what was wrong …was wrong

and in a matter of air space, you deafened taunts

so wisely avoiding…a war song

Your chair was held in high regards and

you showed true love for your f-a-m-i-l-y

when without a side-step and with deep respect

you chose to not bend in this Land of the Free

You brought our troops home,

unlocked stalled benefits for vets

and your health-care package, hallelujah!

gives the scorned worthy – the care they couldn’t get

You, with God, accomplished so much

pressing… against the plough

as for the gun-control matter and how it stands

where the fault really lies we can plainly see…now

There’s so much you’ve done

with tied hands you still accomplished galore

but, of course, there are the haters 

who choose to belittle or ignore 

Oh, how I applauded you 

when you shook-off obvious insults with a shrug 

you knew you were better than any deliberate attempt 

to challenge your esteem...with a word or snub 

But in the end, it’s your - ‘yes we can’ motto

that became more than just words

to a little black boy who touched your hair

they’ll be an inspiring memory…forever heard

I’m so grateful of your leadership

that it was in my lifetime…for a while

hence, there’s 8 years of this old black woman’s life

that‘ll often be recalled with a proud smile

‘Thank you’ seems so inadequate

as in a chosen place of my mind you’ll always sit

you’re gone from…there, but not from…here  

this heart will forever hold you dear 

I just don’t know how to say, ‘goodbye’, to you

          I think…I never will

Psalm 137:5

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