Bicentenary Poems and Prose

America Doubly Blessed: To 'Abdu'l-Baha

America Doubly Blessed:
To 'Abdu'l-Baha

“Blessed, doubly blessed, is the ground which His footsteps have trodden.”
Baha'u'llah1

For 239 days,
he walked upon American soil,
he traveled
from east to west
and back again.

From 11 April
to 5 December of 1912
he visited the United States
and parts of Canada
proclaiming gender equality,
denouncing racism and other prejudices,
showing us a vision of what America could be,
and being an example to every individual he met.

Doubly blessed
is the ground on which he walked:
today we strive to follow his example,
while knowing
it is difficult to walk
in his footsteps.

Poet's Note: ▶︎

This is poem #13 of the 100 poems I'm writing for the centenary of the Ascension of 'Abe'l-Baha.

Footnotes
1  Quoted in 239Days.com Relaunches in Honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Passing of Abdu’l-Baha by Naysan Naraqi https://www.bahaiblog.net/2021/03/239days-com-relaunches-in-honor-of-the-100th-a....