Inspired on February 24, 2026, by Democratic Congressperson Chris Van Hollen in “The People’s State of the Union” who asked: “who will save us?” and answered as in this poem:
Cometh the hour, cometh the man—
the case for need is pled,
the restless troops await,
awash in troubled hopes,
drowned in fearsome dread.
The lieutenant’s missing
the sergeant’s dead,
the cook has fled, the water is gone,
no food in sight with mud for bed—
by whom will the troops be led?
The King’s throat cut, the Queen deposed
and sent to who knows where
by her own hand or some brutal attack
that left her lost in deep despair,
leaving knaves in charge, it’s clear.
The scene is set, the bell has tolled,
the country is nearly lost,
but like the tortoise citizens retract their heads
with festering thoughts others caused them harm
and tariffs don’t exact a personal cost.
Do we seek in the wrong places
for fake heroes who hide,
or for only the gentleman savior–
when we should recall that the true hero
is the person who lives inside?