Summa Cum Laude (Prayer Song for Sallye Anne Hairston Maxwell)
"She delights the earth with her footsteps, and in speaking, fulfills the desires of the deaf" A flower, a synesthetic glow... An inflorescent melody (in search of combination) That violates its meter And disregards its rhythm (as defined by classic standards) To uphold its right to grow. A pearl, a diamond, Cast among swine... Tomorrow is retrieved from the rubbish And polished to a more brilliant luster. A vessel, undefiled... Well built and well prepared:- To weather all the storms and blasts; To sail the oceans, deep and vast; To overcome the dark morass; To persevere until the last;- And with me, heaven, share.