words: A.L. Kennedy

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
That place without an anthem,
Its flag a turn of sunlight
Rising over any nation,
With no precise location on a map.
And as I pledge, I kneel to no one,
I stand on Earth, my mother
I stand in thin bright air,
I stand inside this moment,
All alone and one of billions,
Both rich in vile stupidities and aching grace.
I stand and am myself which is enough,
Which hopes to be enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
Enumerate its symbols,
Its wealth of reckless value,
Strange treasures of a nation,
Which is almost any nation,
With no precise location on a map:
The broken heart of fellow feeling
The broken lance of mercy
The broken chains of freedom
The broken ground of healing.
And all the little boats of hope adrift in dark
I watch for them and hope I am enough
I hope we are enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
Impossible, yet present,
Its warm breath on your forehead,
Its thought a turn of pages,
In the mind of any nation,
With no precise location on a map.
I hold a ghost of quiet contentments
I hold the ghost of laughters
I hold the ghost of justice
I hold the ghost of speaking.
But they are ink and dust and smoke and fall away.
One hand alone and cold is not enough
One heart is not enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
The happy little country,
The pocketful of grass seeds,
I could bring to any nation,
With no precise location on a map.
It is the peace in any garden
The peace in any childhood
The peace in lovers’ whispers
The peace in love’s surrenders.
And all the little birds of hope they sing to it
But songs are far away and not enough
Sweet songs are not enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
But not the midnight promise,
Of good orderly direction,
Blood and purity of nation,
With no precise location on a map.
And nothing true but pain and squalor
Our lives worth less than living
Our lives immune to thinking
Our lives as force and profit.
And treason is the little song that comes to us
When beauty lets us breathe but not enough
And breath is not enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
I scour the night to meet you,
I wait out beside the lighthouse,
Like a prayer to all the nations,
With no precise location on a map.
All day I watch down at the harbour
For ships that sound like dancing
For ships that carry strangers
For ships that bring us angels
That bring the ingenuities of tenderness
So love might come and let us be enough
Our hate is not enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
Where every hurt is tempered:
Drowning seas and time and hunger,
All the fault lines in our grieving
With no precise location on a map,
Out where the miracles are sailing
Where we understand abundance,
Where we learn ways to be human,
Where we give and live in giving
And all the gods are every god and empty sky.
The place where even I would be enough
When I am not enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
Where Max and Martha wander
Hugged up safe within a kind time
By the water in a garden
With no precise location on a map
No darkness stretched across the lake’s skin
Out towards a poisoned future
Out to boots that climb the staircase
Out to air that cannot hide you
Where every plan is burning at the end of us
The place where all our time was not enough
When it should be enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
A citizen of nowhere
With a passport made of poems
In geographies of chaos
With no precise location on a map.
You are an uncompleted journey,
An inheritance of exile
An inheritance of losing
An inheritance of wonder
And all the love that tests and breaks us
That asks our hope if it can be enough
That lets it be enough.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
That place without an anthem,
Its flag a turn of sunlight
Rising over every nation,
With no precise location on a map.
To the whale’s eye and the bird’s delight in rising,
To the child’s life and the learning in its fingers,
To the fine land where each day begins with singing
To the fine land where each night is closed in mercy
To the voices of Utopians
That call upon all persons of goodwill
To be of more goodwill
And more goodwill,
To grow in joys and fearlessness
For when our troubles come.
And every day there will be feasting,
In heart and mind and soul
And none will leave us poorer or more lost.
And every day there will be dancing,
Because no one can walk in Utopia,
Because walking is never enough.
Utopians dance
Towards their one true habitation.
And the shape of their bodies will be a shelter
And they will close their eyes and spin and lift like larks
And hang like dreams in nothing, fixed as stars.
And their embassies will be their jackets
And their currency will be forgiveness
And bafflement and hope
And they will always be far from home
And they will cry
We will cry
Why not? Why not? Why not?
Where are you?
Why this? Why this? Why this?
But when we dance
Sometimes
When we dance
Sometimes
Utopia slips in beneath our feet.

I hereby pledge allegiance to Utopia
That place without an anthem,
With no precise location on a map.