I really did not know how I would react to the inauguration—especially since I got weepy at the rehearsal. Well, in brief, there were no tears. What I seemed to feel most of all was a quiet satisfaction as I acknowledged that now the Obama presidency was a reality. I think it was all good. Well, maybe the Chief Justice of the United States misspeaking the oath of office kept this from being a perfect inauguration, but it was good in about every other way.
Some will complain that Elizabeth Alexander’s poem was not memorable and was prosaic. As someone who has taught poetry for 40 years, I can say that the single most difficult type of poetry to create is occasional poetry—that is, poetry written for a specific occasion. How many occasional poems come to mind? You know, the poems written for a coronation, or to celebrate a jubilee, or some other event in the life of a monarch or head of state? Alexander tried to create a poem that was as expansive as the vision of Obama for America and as eclectic as the varying groups of people who supported him so fervently.
Some will carp at the Rev. Lowry’s benediction. As a “white,” I can say with certainty that in fact whites have not always got it right. But some of us are trying. And he got 2 million people to shout “Amen!”
Some will say that Obama’s oratory was not soaring. I saw the President choosing each and every word as carefully as any poet. And the “fallen heroes who lie in Arlington” who “whisper through the ages” is as finely crafted as the image of any skilled poet.
As a sucker for children, I am delighted to have a young family in the White House again. I think that Sasha will give us plenty of smiles and chuckles over the next four years. She did not walk today so much as bounce, and, if I am not mistaken, the ever-present microphones picked up Sasha asking her father after the oath of office, “Now are you president, Daddy?”
Tomorrow I will take the 1.20.09 bumper sticker off my car. A new era has, in fact, begun.
Some will complain that Elizabeth Alexander’s poem was not memorable and was prosaic. As someone who has taught poetry for 40 years, I can say that the single most difficult type of poetry to create is occasional poetry—that is, poetry written for a specific occasion. How many occasional poems come to mind? You know, the poems written for a coronation, or to celebrate a jubilee, or some other event in the life of a monarch or head of state? Alexander tried to create a poem that was as expansive as the vision of Obama for America and as eclectic as the varying groups of people who supported him so fervently.
Some will carp at the Rev. Lowry’s benediction. As a “white,” I can say with certainty that in fact whites have not always got it right. But some of us are trying. And he got 2 million people to shout “Amen!”
Some will say that Obama’s oratory was not soaring. I saw the President choosing each and every word as carefully as any poet. And the “fallen heroes who lie in Arlington” who “whisper through the ages” is as finely crafted as the image of any skilled poet.
As a sucker for children, I am delighted to have a young family in the White House again. I think that Sasha will give us plenty of smiles and chuckles over the next four years. She did not walk today so much as bounce, and, if I am not mistaken, the ever-present microphones picked up Sasha asking her father after the oath of office, “Now are you president, Daddy?”
Tomorrow I will take the 1.20.09 bumper sticker off my car. A new era has, in fact, begun.
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