A few days after the OKC bombing I was driving east on I-40 when suddenly words, lines, started flashing through my mind. I pulled over and started writing as fast as I could trying to keep up with the input. I’ve never experienced that in my life.
On the Oklahoma City bombing… (by native Oklahoman)
April 19, 1995
There’s a shadow on “The City”
There’s a shadow on this land
There’s a shadow still hiding
Deep in the heart of man.
We’re stunned and mad and scared and sad
There’s no foreign land to bomb.
The babies may be the hardest part
Will we ever again be calm?
As I walked through the valley of the shadow of death
I heard the old, old songs.
By rainbow seas at the edge of the sun
I saw the angels, reaching out,
Receiving them, one by one.
America the beautiful
America the brave
Are you brave enough to stand and face
the ugly shadow within your gates?
We call it hate
We call it fear
We call it many names
It doesn’t matter what we call it
It always ends with pain.
Old Glory may be tattered
Old Glory may be frayed
But we sew here in the heartland
A new one can be made.
For I heard the echo of hoofbeats
of a long ago midnight ride
I saw a tall black hat
Out of the corner of one eye.
I heard the voices of ’76, ’61, ’44 say
“Did you hear the bugle call
that was sounded here today?”