It could have been so

extraordinary
if we had lived up to the brave words
(or if we had really meant them)
(or even understood them).
If only we really could have been
who we said we were.
If only we could have overcome all the
ancient insanities that have
been burned into humankind,
and risen
to a new definition.
If only we could have kept the idea
out of the hands of the
grifters,
the haters,
the fanatics,
the murderers,
the Ponzi artists,
and the glib PR men.
But Philadelphia turned out to
be a false hope
and the one compensation is
that I will be only a memory
somewhere
when its last echo fades.