Chinggis, a Poem by John Delaney

Chinggis, by John Delaney

You read about them in history books.

How military men became leaders

early on, before governments were strong.

How they became a rallying point

for real injustice or imagined wrong.

To believe in something larger than life

that was often miserable for most,

who were just holding on—but for how long?

You might think of an Oliver Cromwell

or George Washington, who first showed their skill

on the battlefield, whether for bad or good.

And then history’s judgment took over

to promote the truth as best it could

and to contextualize the actions taken—

that those were different, difficult times.

If you were alive then, you understood.

This 130-feet-tall equestrian statue of Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan) is the world’s largest of its kind. It faces east to his birthplace. Visitors can take an elevator up the horse and walk out over its head for a commanding panoramic view.

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John Delaney’s publications include Waypoints (2017), a collection of place poems, Twenty Questions (2019), a chapbook, Delicate Arch (2022), poems and photographs of national parks and monuments, Galápagos (2023), a collaborative chapbook of his son Andrew’s photographs and his poems, Nile (2024), poems and photographs about Egypt, Filing Order: Sonnets (2025), and CATechisms (2025), poems and photographs about his senior cat. He lives in Port Townsend, WA.