You Learn By Living
for Eleanor Roosevelt
Who showed the world the world itself
Was awkward, shy and plain.
A high-born leader in a long,
Low decade full of pain.
Poor farmers, blacks, homeless, the least
Advantaged hoped to see,
Magnificently unarrayed,
Pure human dignity.
A lady first, the great first lady
Looked fear in the face,
And said, There is no room for fear
When courage take its place.
Copyright Credit: J. Patrick Lewis, "You Learn by Living (for Eleanor Roosevelt)" from Vherses: A Celebration of Outstanding Women, published by Creative Editions. Copyright © 2005 by J. Patrick Lewis. Reprinted by permission of J. Patrick Lewis.
Source: Vherses: A Celebration of Outstanding Women (Creative Editions, 2005)