Poems (Kennedy)/The Answer

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4590515Poems — The AnswerSara Beaumont Kennedy

THE ANSWER
(LIBERTY BOND, OCT., 1917)

WHAT am I? Listen: Where the ships,
Unwarned, go down as seas swirl green
And scattered corpses strew the tides,
  I am—O ye who mourn the lost—
The answer to the submarine.

Where Belgium's children sob and moan
'Neath heavy hand of German foe,
And starve and sicken day by day,
  I am—mothers and fathers, hearken well—
I am the answer to their woe!

Where fire and sword have swept the land
Down where the Serbian shadows fall,
And men are butchered like the beasts,
  I am—O hearts with pity filled—
I am the answer to their call.

Where ravished girls and women lift
Their helpless pleading hands on high
'Neath skies of Flanders or of France,
  I am—O women, women, everywhere—
I am the answer to their cry!

I am the answer unto these,
For gold can reach beyond the sea
And bind the demons war has loosed.
  I am America's strong arm—
I am the Bond of Liberty!