White Capital stone gleams 
through the shade cast 
by trees that will outlive us.
Even as man-made fences 
divide and confine, 
our thoughts flow 
across all borders, 
across centuries 
and obstacles 
into a future 
that will be defined 
by our children, 
understood through
a different lens. 
Will we be
remembered
for the gleam 
of our thoughts
or the darkness
of our shade?

Copyright 2025 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: January 6 has become a date like September 11 or December 7. A date of sorrow where a group of men (and a few women) committed violence in their attempt to remake the world in their own image. Those who died are remembered, but many more innocent people were injured or threatened. Different factions flip the dialogue, naming different heroes and villains, but our children will write the history books. 

I can’t see the Capital building without remembering. Or the New York skyline, forever changed. Or growing up with a moment of silence for Pearl Harbor Day on December 7 in my school. 

A day that will live in infamy. 

January 6 is still casting shade.