This Inaugural Poem was written in November 2012 (before the presidential election and revised since) in honor of President Obama's Inauguration January 21, 2013.
***Newer: I have finished reformatting the inaugural poem's stanzas so that they read better. Also improved the rhythm, meter, and rhyme by 35%. The spacing converts all funky with HTML when you're not an expert. Trying to pin down the formatting, spacing (spaces, space before and after lines, between paragraphs, all very important for the look and read of a poem, I could go on for hours on spacing and love E.E. Cummings) is like trying to scratch a moving itch!***
**Posted a copy (whose spacing hopefully stays put!) on Amazon, entitled "An Inaugural Poem for President Barack Obama" or click here to go to Amazon directly without passing go!
Okay, folks, as
usual, I don't set out to write anything. It just writes me. After weeks of
being an election junkie, reading, watching, breathing in all things
election, especially the polls that came out each morning (I would stay up
all night to hit the refresh button on Real Clear Politics as they uploaded the
new polls in real time. They were the usually the first to publish an election
poll (Rasmussen was so bias for the Republicans and okay, ABC was probably
leaning toward the liberals). Anyway, all those news stories, videos I would
watch made me start dreaming election. Really. I tossed and turned after the
first presidential debate because I couldn’t sit still during the slight fiasco.
I was like: “Obama, wake up! Don’t you know some people vote based on who they’d
rather have a beer with? How do you think Gore lost? (Besides the fault of the
Supreme Court and Kennedy, of course!)
If you haven't read it yet, it's posted immediately below or here is the link to: An Inaugural Poem by Ssal Nogard. I am still deciding on a name, any suggestions? Please email me! Remember to "like it" on Facebook even if you don't like it!
Oh yeah, if you didn't catch my somewhat satirical poem for Mitt Romney, A Tale of Two Romneys, and accompanying Literary Critique For Dummies, er, I mean Literary Critique BY Dummies, here's a chance to catch up!
I'm back! Had to grab a bite to eat; I work best on a full stomach!
So, after weeks of election dreaming, I started to get a phrase turning in my head--it wouldn’t go away!--over and over again until scribbled down some notes. It was an image of a hand being held out and some words: “Will you go with me…” and “will you go with fate…?” I don’t know if those two questions meant the same thing or if they were contradictory, dunno, but then the rhythm got stuck in my head: “Will you go with me, he said, or will you go with fate?” Whoah. I was in trouble now.
“Will you go with me,” he said, “or will you go with fate?”
So I gulped, and I said, “I will go with you, whoever you are!” But by this time I sorta’ figured that it was Obama’s hand that was extended out to me. It’s a very elegant hand, with long, fine fingers, if you have never noticed, lol! For real! Take a peek: Photo of Pres Obama's hands typing #My2k answers @ whitehouse: http://pic.twitter.com/DhsfAN1b. And then, and then, there appeared before me as the mists of my mind started to recede, a road, I supposed because the question asked about “going” with someone so a road makes sense. But it was a long road and I couldn’t see to the end, so trite and symbolic, you say. I agree. There’s nothing new about standing and looking at a lot of roads, trying to choose the best one to take.
So I gulped, and I said, “I will go with you, whoever you are!” But by this time I sorta’ figured that it was Obama’s hand that was extended out to me. It’s a very elegant hand, with long, fine fingers, if you have never noticed, lol! For real! Take a peek: Photo of Pres Obama's hands typing #My2k answers @ whitehouse: http://pic.twitter.com/DhsfAN1b. And then, and then, there appeared before me as the mists of my mind started to recede, a road, I supposed because the question asked about “going” with someone so a road makes sense. But it was a long road and I couldn’t see to the end, so trite and symbolic, you say. I agree. There’s nothing new about standing and looking at a lot of roads, trying to choose the best one to take.
In my inaugural
poem, the “many roads both left and right” (see infra) refer to conservatives
and liberals. “They wound among themselves before me” represents the tug-of-war
of both parties but at the same time the fact that some ideologies are the same,
social Libertarian and Democratic views, or fiscal Republican and Libertarian
views.
One evening I stood facing
many roads both left and right.
They wound among themselves before me
with the pending night.
I peered closely but could not see
the path that each road ran.
Only that each path rose to
its neighboring distant height.
“Each path rose to its neighboring distant height”
reflects that no matter which party is in the White House or controls Congress,
America still has done pretty well for herself!
I stepped forward pressed by voices
that
refused to wait.
And saw a hand
extended filled
with lines of love
and hate.
I looked up into the
face of Battle
and of Destiny.
“Will you come with
me,” He said,
“or will you go with
Fate?”
The laughter of Ben Frank is, of course, Benjamin Franklin, Renaissance Man extraordinaire, inventor of the bifocals, harnessing electricity from lightning, and wrote a ton of famous quotes that I resented growing up, such as “The early bird gets the worm.” Turns my stomach every time I hear it. Also, humble enough not to be president ‘cause everyone knows he could’ve in a heartbeat if he had wanted to, he was so popular. Thom J. is Thomas Jefferson, another uber-enlightened American who wrote some awesome stuff, like the Declaration of Independence, which I loved memorizing in grade school.
I took the Gentle Giant’s hand
and stepped through the hazy gray,
of Ben Frank and Thom J. along the way.
Taking the Washington's hand after he asks whether I will follow him means that everyone had faith in George Washington, the only president to ever win 100% of electoral votes. Of course, no one opposed him for president. With Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson nearby, who wouldn't have faith that America was on the right path to greatness?
The “two terms” refers to the fact that George Washington stepped down from office after only two terms, heretofore something unheard of when he could have been King of the World forever. A great precedent for most progressive nations in the modern world. With forefathers like these, who wouldn't have faith in America's future?
After two terms we met a fork
that ran red along both roads.
On each side were countless voices
The fork means that the country is started to shift toward two distinct ideologies and preferences. The red foreshadows the American Civil War. The “countless voices” are those that warn against the cost of war.
pressing me to stay.
The gentle giant nudged me forward
The ruddy face is Abraham Lincoln’s, who was a redhead, Celtic features. “No sooner than I took his hand, then he was gone again,” is a reference to his assassination. President Lincoln preferred to be kind to the South during Reconstruction, but after he was assassinated, the Northern Congressmen beat down hard on the South. (Gone with the Wind is a nice story.) Lincoln said, “I have always found that mercy bears greater fruits than strict justice.” (see New Lyrics to Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy (Congratulations on being honored at the Kennedy Center!))
and
warned me not to wait.
I stumbled along the
reddened roads
Both marked
with love and hate.
Ahead I saw a face
whose hair
was ruddy from the roads.
The ruddy face is Abraham Lincoln’s, who was a redhead, Celtic features. “No sooner than I took his hand, then he was gone again,” is a reference to his assassination. President Lincoln preferred to be kind to the South during Reconstruction, but after he was assassinated, the Northern Congressmen beat down hard on the South. (Gone with the Wind is a nice story.) Lincoln said, “I have always found that mercy bears greater fruits than strict justice.” (see New Lyrics to Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy (Congratulations on being honored at the Kennedy Center!))
His hand held out to hasten me
before I was too late.
No sooner than I took his hand,
then He was gone again.
Again, I take his hand because Lincoln was another president who many placed their faith in because he made the right decisions to the hard choices.
'Kay, gotta' take a break. Time for dinner and I haven't even had lunch! BRB....
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Part IV Explanatory Notes, Meaning Behind Inaugural Poem
Here is a link at TeacherVision to Other Inaugural Poems from great poets like Robert Frost for J.F.K. and Maya Angelou for B.O., yeah!
The Huffington Post compares past Inaugural Poems
MyInaugural Poem for President Obama on Amazon Be the First to Buy it, (however dubious a distinction!)
What I Said When I saw Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Princess Boo Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed
Fantastic. A really talented writer.
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