A View from Across the Pond

Matthew Arnold

October 26, 2020

Two knights, stand tall, helmets fastened, 

lances gripped. One red and one blue, waiting to

trade punishing, political blows.

Their eyes wide eyed anticipating the golden declarations.

Fifty-eight duels,

Fifty-eight elections,

Fifty-eight stories, 

Of jubilation and demise.

Now the fifty-ninth lies in keep 

Ready to be awaken.

One knight shall triumph and grace the oval crown.

A relinquished or retained result,

Remains to be seen.

A job of omnipotent might, ruling across vast lands.

Who shall command the most powerful job? 

Forty-four triumphant presidents,

Forty-four tales of American history.

Each president transcribing their own chronicle,

Of America’s ever-expanding story.

The United fifty states await,

with battered breath.

Each with their own wishes and dreams.

Dreams, which hang by a thread.

Only to be cut or strengthened,

by the rise of the forty-sixth presidency.

The rise of a composer to orchestrate 

the hopes and wishes of “half” of the United Fifty.

Matthew Arnold, a citizen of the United Kingdom, is completing his Masters in English Literature and Language at Lamar University.