Festive.
Never in my life have I been to a march where everyone is smiling, singing along to the music, waving flags illuminating the space between elbow-to-elbow people of all ages.
Look to my left, women dancing. Look to my right, people hugging.
Is this the country I hear about on the news? Divided? Tribal?
None of that here. No way. No how.
Three mega-screens with the word Freedom surrounded with three stars on each side.
Above, wispy clouds and warm sun grace the day eventually evolving into a spectacular sunset of pink and orange clouds.
But right now, it’s a party! A celebration!
Good to be around so many like-minded folks. The vibe invites me to hope.
Is that so bad?
You can’t tell me it is. No talking heads here. Just ordinary citizens being what this country could be.
Idealism bubbles up from the pessimism, cynicism, half empty, brokenness, anger, hatred and anything else in the raw sewage of lies and fascism.
Sitting now on the grass, I can only feel the deep bass shaking the earth and observe moving feet, bouncing bodies grooving with the music. I can’t help but smile. O’Jays “Love Train” rolling down the tracks of hope and love.
And if I look over my right shoulder, I can imagine the Washington Monument swaying a little.
The most alive I’ve felt during this election season. No news here; just joy of life, of being here now. Unplugged but plugged into the moment. Nowhere else I’d want to be.
This place feels like a shelter from the political storm. Nothing to turn off or turn down here.
Just acceptance of how the country’s future could be if sanity, truth and love prevails. Nothing perfect but a baby step in the direction of King's "moral arc" of justice.
And should Harris win and repubs undermine some of her policy ideas, at least she will have elevated the English language.
Her speeches regularly use words such as hope, idealism, promise, opportunity, joy, rights, freedom, helping, raising, community, love, heroes, happiness, citizenship, compromise, love, new, forward, caring, trust, others, light and truth.
As someone who loves words, hearing and, yes, feeling those words at the rally yesterday emerged as one of the highlights for me. Being with 50,000 or so people immersed together in such positive language was deeply inspirational.
I think even Orwell would have savored the spirit of this uplifting moment.
And perhaps I sipped a bit too much of the celebratory kool-aid at the event.
But let me say that it was a delightfully sweet and tasty brew.
Ron Shapiro, an award-winning teacher, currently mentors college essay writing as well as teaches Memoir Writing through George Mason University. He has published writings in Nova Bards 23 & 24, Gatherings, Poets of the Promise, Poetry X Hunger, Minute Musings, Backchannels, Gezer Kibbutz Gallery, All Your Poems, Paper Cranes Literary Magazine and twochapbooks: Sac