"How Did He Stand?" (A poem about Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas night)

 

Five years ago when my first wife learned she was terminally ill, she wanted to visit "nearby" Titusville NJ to see where Washington crossed the Delaware (they re-enact it every year on Christmas Day). I was disappointed that the weather was freakily SPRINGLIKE that day because I wanted to see what Washington experienced that freezing night!!  However, studying this famous painting helped me imagine myself as BEING IN THE BOAT, WATCHING WASHINGTON and I wrote this poem (using POETIC license, just like the painter employed ARTISTIC license). The poem is really about what constitutes true leadership and courage, as I see it. Enjoy!!

How does he stand, while others row

(activity to make blood flow) this freezing night?

He's in command, he leads our way

a statue, standing ...(frozen)?

Unmoved, and bound to what he's planned; 

this sneak attack he's chosen,

this sneak attack he's chosen.

This river's cold, and might it be

we're crossing icy Jordan?

He stands alone and helps us see

the shore of a great victory.

But howling winds, they threaten me

and every boat we've boarded, 

every boat we've boarded.

And through the ice we bang into

He keeps his balance, standing tall.

If we're to die before we're through

he'll fall before WE fall, 

a model for us all, 

a model for us all.

You see, I've crossed the Delaware

with Washington...my mind was there.

"How did he stand," you ask today?

He stood, for first

he knelt to pray! 

Yes, stood because

he knelt to pray.

Chet Jelinski, 2015

Painting by Emanuel Leutze, 1851