Ted Kennedy, Burden Bearer

When John Kennedy was elected to the Presidency,
it seemed that the nation and maybe the world
had turned from the ancients to a newer generation,
as surely we must have done before, but in our time.

Robert Kennedy burned like an acetylene torch,
with courage and a commitment to justice,
and he, too, was shot down for his passion.

Ted Kennedy, like his brothers and sisters,
came from a family ambiguous in its history;
their father, perhaps, as ruthless a man as any
who ever wanted wealth and power. These
later generations of Kennedys have baffled us,
coming from privilege, and denying it;
none more than the youngest son, now dead.

Ted Kennedy, like all of us, came flawed,
but fiercely to become champion for all who had less;
for children, for health care, for honest work
and decency. He carried his broken family forward
toward what all his brothers had died for,
to carry the whole burden of becoming a better nation.

He was no shining knight, but he was as strong
and determined as the best of his brothers,
and he stood with us. He stood strong, with us.

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