A man so good as Harold Washington
Appears upon the scene with rarity,
A politician of integrity,
And where have all the years—now thirty—gone?
His opposition blocked him at each step,
As he strove to uphold the common good,
Mayor Washington—I never understood
How evil men connive, cabals to keep.
More of the common sort, run-of-the-mill,
Daleys we’ve had, with their quotidian graft
Helming the office, as it were a craft
For personal enrichment, private till.
What is the fallacy of education
To make the common man, the common run?
Why, like a shooting star, a Washington
To briefly lend the sky illumination?
Mayor Washington—sir—as a young man then
I basked briefly in your reflected glory,
Then suddenly—too soon—ended the story,
As heaven took you from the world of men.