Moses Never Reached the Promised Land

Subscribe to this site on Substack

Subscribe to this site on YouTube

Subscribe to this site on Medium

Follow this site on Facebook

Follow this site on Instagram

Hear me read
the poem as
an MP3 file.

Watch me read
the poem as
a YouTube video.

Audio and Video Music:
Wandering Soul.
By Asher Fulero.
Music free to use
at YouTube.

Alpha List

Epitaphs

Name Poems

Poems for
MLK's Birthday

About This
Site

Poems for
Free

Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon

Moses never reached the promised land,
And I, too, died upon that distant mountain,
Resting on the laurels of my dream.
There is no end to struggle, no safe refuge
In which one can say, yes, I have arrived,
No longer feel the guilt of privilege,
Let go the fierce anxiety for justice,
Untie the knots of conscience in one's soul.
The promised land's a vision, not a place,
Held within the unrelenting heart.
Each generation must behold its beauty,
Reach for its uncompromising goodness,
Know that its long looked-for realization
Is in a time zone one will never see.
No matter. There's a joy in going forward
Greater than the joy of going home.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.

[about this site] [poems for free] [poem of the week]
[site policy] [about me] [links]