Poems (Kennedy)/The Answer
For works with similar titles, see The Answer.
THE ANSWER
(LIBERTY BOND, OCT., 1917)
WHAT am I? Listen: Where the ships, Unwarned, go down as seas swirl greenAnd scattered corpses strew the tides, I am—O ye who mourn the lost— The answer to the submarine.
Where Belgium's children sob and moan 'Neath heavy hand of German foe,And starve and sicken day by day, I am—mothers and fathers, hearken well— I am the answer to their woe!
Where fire and sword have swept the land Down where the Serbian shadows fall,And men are butchered like the beasts, I am—O hearts with pity filled— I am the answer to their call.
Where ravished girls and women lift Their helpless pleading hands on high'Neath skies of Flanders or of France, I am—O women, women, everywhere— I am the answer to their cry!
I am the answer unto these, For gold can reach beyond the seaAnd bind the demons war has loosed. I am America's strong arm— I am the Bond of Liberty!