Passing the torch: a poem

Dear Joe, you’ve got a choice to make
It’s not easy; there’s no magic.
Be a hero for your wisdom
Or become a figure tragic.

You say you need to keep the job
To finish what you started.
But the job has been ongoing
Since from England we were parted.

We’re a project that’s in progress;
We’ve final victory never caught.
And for every generation
There are battles to be fought.

To make progress with the project
Can’t depend on just one man.
The torch has got to be passed on;
Must go from hand to hand.

George Washington, when he withdrew,
Said t’was time to pass the torch.
He said, like Cinncinnatus,
He’d retire to his porch.

Now its time for you to step aside,
Pass on the team baton.
You must let some other leader
This long battle carry on.

Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl is the former deputy inspector general for inspections at the Central Intelligence Agency and co-author of “The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze.”