Learning the letter O

From the columns of the Vatican
To pressing pilgrims of Mecca
From the deepest of Amazonia
To secret drums of Africa
There’s an echo that Yes we can

From joyful streams of images
And the clamour from America,
From inner circles of academia
To melting mounts of Antarctica
A fresh breeze blows through the book’s pages

From the child learning his O
To the sound of the harmonica
From the toddler mumbling mama mia
To the last maroon of Kanaka
The world salutes a new hero

The pound tumbles again this morning
There’s no more work for Veronica
Bad news suffer from bulimia
No more holidays to Corsica
Yet I hear a continent sing

Last night’s nightmare vanishes
It was not due to a late tikka
Nor from coffee Arabica
Is that a mild form of hysteria?
A full stop stomps the doom wishes

Evil has devoured its own axis
But the dead won’t return like Issaka
Wipe your tears, child of Mesopotamia
Put a smile on the face, Angelica
Who would have dreamt a dawn such as this?

The echo reverberates the net
I get a new text from Jessica
‘We just escaped from Utopia
Hope is dawning on America
Pass the message Alleluia
Join in the worldwide euphoria

You and me won’t feel the change yet
But we are all invited to Obama’s fete

Broadstairs. 21st January 2009