Lincoln's Tears

With the "Nation's River" at his back, he sits stone-faced, staring far across the grassy green, around the obelisk to his original predecessor, and a mile past that, to the living monument of our country's democracy.

He has not been skin and bones since his lanky body cast a dying shadow on a boarding house bed too small for his frame.

Gasping his last breath some century and a half ago, he still lives today, permeating our republic, his words quoted by every political party and from nearly every citizen seeking to sanctify their beliefs, righteous or not, in service to others or not.

Lincoln, the keeper, and protector of our great American fabric died knowing the Civil War was over.

But he did not know if his beloved union would hold. How could he? How could anyone be sure of our survival while hatred, ignorance, and fear tear at that fabric?

Truth marches on upon the backs of selfless acts of unity. 

Great defenders of peace and justice stood at his feet during our most divisive times, echoing his words of peace, justice, and healing. But in recent weeks, tears have welled in those granite eyes. Like gun smoke swirling in a presidential box, insurrection once again fills the air of our federal city.

A free people build democracy pliable, expecting it to bend in every direction, as a willow bends to the will of the wind. 

It bows to both virtuous and ignorant rebellion. It hasn't broken yet, but old tenants of north and south still wildly swing around our moral compass, as they did on that seditious night in April 1865. And as they did on the afternoon of January 6, 2021.

This time, misanthropes and misguided patriots did not trot down cobblestone streets on horseback, in the dark cover of night, but on foot, under the cover of a different darkness. And this time they flew competing flags of allegiance in parallel with those of false idols and tired mantras.

Flags have often led great, ancient armies and modern poser-militias into unnecessary conflict. 

We might do well to put the flags down and pick up our heads, for the ground is only good for burying.

Dissent is American. Mob rule is not. Protest is American. Rioting is not. Democracy, truth, compromise, and voting are all American. Fascism, Communism, and careless incitement are not! Except… they are.

Every characteristic of our democracy, noble and not, is American. To ignore one is to abandon another. Our challenge is to not loose the fateful lightning of swords upon ourselves, while awaiting a more perfect union, or Glory Land, whichever comes first.

An excerpt from the song, "Lincoln's Tears." 

- Mark Elliott & Lance Cowan

"Lincoln's tears have been dry for years, ever since the civil war.

 Trading skin and bone for marble and stone. 

 And every school kid knows what for 

 A house can stand united until it's torn down from within.

Lincoln's tears have been dry for years.

 But we're making them fall again" 

Mark Elliott is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter and author. He has written for some of Nashville's top publishing houses, including Sony-Tree, Maypop, and Bluewater Music. He's a winner of the coveted Kerrville New Folk Award and had songs covered by both indie and major-label artists. Mark's book, The Sons of Starmount: Memoir of a Ten-year-old Boy, is out in paperback and audiobook, and his new single, "Talk To Yourself," is out now on all platforms.