New Dawn
- Danielle Colin
- Jan 3
- 2 min read
for the inauguration of Dr. Dorcey Applyrs
They say time flies but today, we remember
how long it took to get here.
Today, we bear witness to the weight of centuries,
milestones skipping the length of the Hudson.
Today, our eyes take in the evidence of a new dawn,
Look how the clock moves without our permission
how even while we sleep, the sun is busy
shining on a place we cannot see
How even when the clouds block the sun,
it never ceases to rise to the occasion
shining like only a new day can.
Do you know what happens to a dream deferred?
It remembers.
lingers in the crevices of time
fights to stay alive
Makes raisins tastes like grapes turned into wine
It repeats like a song to itself I belong, I belong,
I belong. Looks like an American dream,
sounds like a four-hundred-year-old prayer
In the name of the Mohican, the Mohawk,
the Myers, Jefferson Street, Johnson, Greene
Garnett, Rapp Road, Morrison, Mott
Blake, Smith, Arbor Hill, the Underground
Railroad, the First Ward to the first Black mayor
the first
the first
In the name of memories and legacies
we cannot wait for the dream
we must become it.
for every unmarked grave
for every forgotten name
for every open hand
for all the blood, sweat and tears soaked into this land
for all the stories only time can tell
from Quail to Eagle
Dove and Lark, Swan and Hawk
Oldest city of New York,
Albany, the city that grows wings in its streets.
Today, we find out how far we can fly
It is already tomorrow, somewhere.
May we be like time,
an unrelenting move forward,
one hand in front of the next
We are the once in a new moon,
a wrinkle in the vortex
What comes next is our breath
and what we do with right now,
right now.
D. Colin ©2026
Read on January 1st at Empire State Plaza Convention Center for the swearing-in ceremony of Dr. Dorcey Applyrs, first Black mayor, first person of color and youngest ever mayor of Albany, NY. You can watch the entire swearing-in ceremony HERE. The timestamp for this poem 1:24:36.
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