Opening ceremony so many new faces 

     so few old and recognizable ones. 

The past rushing forward

     slamming into us with a vengeance. 

This is how she found us 

     “the past draped about us like a cloak.” (after Diana Khoi Nguyen)

Come, come and join,

     the future begs of us,

     tantalizes us

Do not fears us, rejoice in what was

     and what will be.  

Receive this cloak of history,

Wear it – and remember.