I heard someone in the street say

This was the year when you lost

Your home and your job to pay

For freedom’s dear cost.

But the street lamps silently rejoice

That in fact you found your light

And your soul and your voice

Amid the dark of the night.

I heard someone in the street weeping:

What about the jailed and the slain?

And the buried and the missing?

Will they come back again?

But look, their faces shine in our mirrors

With wrinkles dug by smiles, not age.

May their faith shatter our fears

And break open our cage.