What is Lady Liberty Doing? - Gail M. Burns

[Larry Robinson]

What is Lady Liberty Doing?


Guiding, guarding, illuminating, welcoming
 
She lifts her lamp beside the golden door
 
A beacon in the dark, a lighthouse for the world
 
But like any woman worth her salt, she is multi-tasking
 
We look up to Lady Liberty when we ought to look down
 
She has feet, you know,
Not legs, but feet.
She has neatly clipped toenails
And a sturdy pair of traveling sandals.

Why?

Because she is in motion, striding forward,
Her right foot flexed, pushing off,
Her left foot firmly planted ahead.
 
It cost Bartholdi precious time and expensive materials to carve those feet.
He could have hidden them under her robe.
He could have had her standing still, with just her toes peeping out,
But he made her a woman of action.
 
Because you cannot embody Liberty standing still.
 
Now, you cannot see her left foot unless you are airborne
Which is why so many people don’t know
That it is trampling, and breaking, a chain -
By the side, a broken shackle.
Lady Liberty has been a slave, her feet bound,
And now, liberated,
She is taking her first full step into a future of freedom.
 
Look down and see the story.
She holds the torch to light her own way
As well as ours.
She invites us not to end our journey but to begin it.

	- Gail M. Burns