Part III. INAUGURAL POEM FOR OBAMA 2013 Explanatory Notes

Click here for An Open Letter to President Obama.

See first Part II Explanatory Notes.

***Note: I've made some edits to this posting, making it more complete.***

This next section, indicated by asterisks and squigglies (tildas--I remembered the name, yay!":

     

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represents a shift forward in time.

The brothers were bound more tightly

                                        than the many winding roads.

No matter how Great the Burden,

                                      the brothers shared their loads.

Their scars seared brightly to their skin

                                    sewn from each others’ Bondage,

Woven from great Ideas--and lapses--

                                          into canons, laws and codes.

This stanza tells of how America's place in the world changes, but our future is no less promising than before.

After the Civil War, the Great War, and Two World Wars, which tends to unify instead of polarize people of a country: “The brothers were bound more tightly than the many winding roads.” During conflict, it is often easy to measure loyalty: “No matter how Great the Burden, the brothers shared their loads.” Yet, even with women building airplanes during World War II, and Blacks fighting alongside Whites, the wounds of war, both global and at home, have a hard time healing. So long as vulnerable groups were disenfranchised, they would never truly be free, and that’s a black eye on federal and local governments who continue to allow discrimination. Thus, these black eyes, wounds, or “scars” are “seared brightly” on their skin.

If anything, after the two World Wars, America's future was at its brightest. The United States soon became the leading industrialized nation in the world.

The brothers' scars are woven from great ideas, from their lapses, i.e., periods during which their ideas were not so great. Their scars are also a result of each others' bondage. What the heck does that mean? So long as fringe groups did not enjoy the freedoms that mainstream America did, those groups aren't much better off than they were at home in a kitchen or someone else's property. And yet, from the Declaration of Independence, to the Constitution and Bill of Rights, then great ideas have made America a paradigm for law and order.

That's why Americans have faith in our future!

What’s more, women and Blacks, who fought for suffrage, vote against Gay rights, some homosexuals think that poor people should take responsibility for their own healthcare because it is not an entitlement. Hence, our scars don’t heal very well and are pretty evident because our transgressions against others, “sewn from each others’ Bondage,” is what makes our scars all the brighter.

After World War II, the ascendancy of the U.S. was pretty evident and unstoppable. The “Eastern waters” refers to the Atlantic Ocean on the East Coast of America. On the continent, the U.S. became a major player, having jumped into World War II when Great Britain was the last stronghold against Hitler in Europe. (Why do people write against “Hitler” as if World War II was fought between the Alliance and ONE person?)

“The Western sea” refers to the Pacific Ocean, west of the U.S. The “lands of which our fathers sought” is the Orient. Beginning with Christopher Columbus, who underestimated the size of the Earth and thought traveling west would lead to Asia, and so many intrepid explorers who paved the way an integrated world (It’s a Small, Small World! Yup, I have this song on my MP3 player. It comes right after “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-a-Dee-Ay! My, Oh My, What a Wonderful Day!”)

Across the Eastern waters:

                               a New Order was deftly wrought.

Beyond the Western sea:

                        the lands of which our Fathers sought.

But finding Something in between

                                   Our forefathers stopped to rest.

Go West young man, go west,

                   was Then, and Now our greatest thought.

It was Horace Greeley who said, “Go West Young Man, Go West.” That one statement printed in the New York Tribune encapsulated everything that Americans felt about their future and destiny. People believed that the best was still yet to come, as many do now!

Horace Greeley was a liberal who was an outspoken Abolitionist. (I saw his portrait in the National Portrait Gallery that is set apart from the Smithsonian Museums and never knew the Gallery was there until a friend mentioned it.) Horace Greeley realized that the Western areas of North America had great potential for settlers and printed in his New York Tribune, “Go West young man, go west and grow up with the country.” He meant from the Midwest-ish U.S. to the Wild Wild West, e.g., California, Nevada, Oregon, which some people think are still too wild. ;-) One of my friends says that going west was hardly America’s greatest thought. I told my friend, it’s the spirit behind the adventuresome traveling. Don’t take it literally. He said, if you have to explain a poem it’s no good. Poems are made to be read, not explained. I agree. But in order to get a reader to understand perfectly, I would have to revise the poem until it turned into prose!

The next stanza focuses on the domestic scene at home. The United States, blessed with the greatest diversity of any nation in history, is a country that has to deal with a whole lot of opinions. “The brothers’ bonds stretched slowly. . .” That means some people believe that others should do as they believe, i.e., person A believes that person B must follow person’s A way. That’s when we start to clash. But person A assures it is the moral thing to do, and enacting laws for and against certain behaviors and actions, homosexual marriage, abortion, medical and recreational marijuana, the debates never end. That’s a good thing, right? But notice that we’re still one country despite a growing number of petitions to secede from the States. Some people even say that Lincoln should have let the South secede. “Yet never did they [our bonds] snap,” as we still show a united front during times that test the resilience of America.

The brothers’ bonds stretched slowly,

                                        yet never did they snap.

They flexed their newfound strength with hands

                             that drew a New World Map.

The bonds broke in striations

                                  that kept our voices taut.

Even as it seemed some voices,

                          were still helplessly entrapped.

Nation building, protecting the little guy, call it whatever you want, the U.S. has had a hand in much of the world’s political, social, economic, well everything. Hence “hands that drew a New World Map.” That is because we can by flexing America’s “newfound strength” since World War II.

Thus, one of the reasons why America's future has always been bright is because we always help each other. Remember "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart? Jimmy Stewart played George Bailey, a small town guy living in Bedford Falls. George has a heart of gold--but also Jimmy Steward 'cuz everyone knows that Jimmy Stewart was the nicest guy around!--and ever since he was eight (George Bailey, not Jimmy Stewart but I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to as well), wants to go out and see the world. He never gets the chance because he's always busy helping someone else. Until he is so old (only forty-ish) that he realizes he is stuck in Bedford Falls forever.

What's the point? Even when there are bad guys like Mr. Gower (played by the great Lionel Barrymore) who bah-humbug there way through this classic Christmas story, a few greedy people cannot overcome the heart of a great guy like Jimmy Stewart, er, I mean George Bailey. That's why it's a smart investment to have faith in the future of the United States!

Yet, even as we became stronger, we became more diverse, and the bonds that keep us together also have more voices that seek representation, protection, and service. The great diversity keeps politicians and civilians alert to each other’s needs. Some say we haven’t done a good job with that, but lately, few would doubt that the voices during the recent election were not without a sense of urgency (I hope I did that double negative right.)

The voices that seem “helplessly entrapped.” That’s pretty evident. Minorities, binders full of women, the Forty-Seveners who are either lazy and demanding or hardworking and entitled. We’ve got a long way to go, and yet, like the Virginia Slims advertisement: “You’ve come a long way, baby.” The ad shows a model smoking a cigarette, something that wasn’t allowed back in the day. But now that smoking is hazardous to your health, that ad is passé, irrelevant, and misfit. Too bad, those girls were hot.

Part IV will finish the explanatory notes. Can you guess what:

on our winding road that split
                                three dozen times plus eight 

means? Send me an answer through the comments section!

For Obama's entire Inaugural Poem 2013, click here

Some more background notes (Part I) to Obama's Inaugural Poem 2013, click here

Part II Explanatory Notes to Obama's Inaugural Poem 2013

A version of Obama's Inaugural Poem with correct formatting and spacing because I can't get a handle of this HTML! Be the first to buy it!



Part IV Explanatory Notes, Meaning Behind Inaugural Poem

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MY OTHER WRITINGS

What I Said When I Saw Salvador Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus at the Tate Modern

What I Would Have Said If I Had Visited the Cataracts of Iguacu or Iguazu.

Princess  Boo Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

Led Zep's Houses of the Holy, A Continuation, Meaning Explained Part I. Sending his Brother Away

Click here for the lyrical poem, "And now Here Comes Michael Walking," that I wrote after listening to Led Zep's Houses of the Holy one too many times late one night when I was cramming for a final exam.

Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy

Some people comment that my writing isn't transparent on a first or second (or third read). Here is some explanation of the lyrics that I wrote (that go in time with Led Zeppelin's song), after hearing this song one too many times. After reading these comments and the meaning behind my new lyrics, it might make the reading a little more enjoyable.

After extending the story of Houses of the Holy, which isn't really a story but I made it into one from a few of the catchy phrases in the lyrics, the epic story-poem, call it whatever you want, kept telling itself, so to speak, or so to write.

And yes, I listened to the song the ENTIRE time I was writing the each chapter, which means that I listened to the song a lot!

Remember to read while you are listening to Led Zeppelin's song Houses of the Holy. The beat will make the story that much more fun and readable.

I would like to note that I do not enjoy reading "critiques" or "analysis" of literature before reading anything. However, I did need to read Einstein's notes on his Relativity (the version for the layman, which is really too heavy duty for the layman) and found them useful and necessary, and wished the Maestro had written more, more more! Einstein is Maestro II in my Princess Boo Stories. Maestro I is Newton (or the other way around, I forget).

If you are a Led Zeppelin fan as I am, you no doubt love, luv, l-o-v-e Houses of the Holy. The lyrics are copied below:

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Let me take you to the movies. Can I take you to the show
Let me be yours ever truly. Can I make your garden grow

From the houses of the holy, we can watch the white doves go
From the door comes Satan's daughter, and it only goes to show. You know.

There's an angel on my shoulder, In my hand a sword of gold
Let me wander in your garden. And the seeds of love I'll sow. You know.

So the world is spinning faster. Are you dizzy when you're stoned?
Let the music be your master. Will you heed the master's call
Oh... Satan and man.

Said there ain't no use in crying. Cause it will only, only drive you mad
Does it hurt to hear them lying? Was this the only world you had? Oh-oh

So let me take you, take you to the movie. Can I take you, baby, to the show.
Why don't you let me be yours ever truly. Can I make your garden grow
You know.

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Part I. Sending his Brother Away

I got the pic of Satan’s daughter standing in a doorway to a bordello in Reconstruction Era New Orleans (don’t ask me why New Orleans, maybe because the Orleans casino is a large Southern estate-like mansion on its façade.)

Reconstruction Era, for you furreners (j/k), foreigners, internationals who I love because all seven of you read my writing, lol, is the period in American history after the Civil War. The South went through a very rough period, as after President Lincoln was assassinated, the Northern Congressmen were unforgiving in their policies toward the South. Some would say the deep South deserved such punitive measures. Today, many reenact famous Civil War battles and fly the Confederate flag. (These are the states that voted very red in the election this month, btw.) Evidently, most people did not espouse Abraham Lincoln’s view that:

“I have always found that mercy bears greater fruits than strict justice.”

If Lincoln had said “punishment” in lieu of “justice” I think I might have agreed with him more, in light of the word “always” also being in there. I think he meant: with “strict administration of the law, justice is not always served because no law is perfect, being either too over-inclusive or not enough, and not being able to tailor judgments to every single situation. But we all get the point.

Anyway, and she’s standing there (Satan’s daughter, sorry for the digression), much like Mae West in “Diamond Lil”. But of course, she has to be waiting for somebody or somebody has to be passing by that catches her eye, or vice versa. Satan’s daughter, not Mae West, or maybe both. J or all three, Diamond Lil, too.

Who else but Michael, since he’s got his flaming sword in hand. So the story begins, and soon I found myself daydreaming about famous scenes from the Bible, that are well documented in gilded paintings on doorway panels in Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as ornately carved panels in Western Cathedrals.

Part I, posted earlier, tells of Michael readying for battle with Lucifer, who was the original bad-ass archangel, bigger than Michael back then. When Lucifer gathers his host of angels that are willing to follow him into battle against God, God sends Archangel Michael, God’s new right-hand man, er, angel.

In the first part of this epic poem, Michael is readying for battle. He’s donning his chain mail (don’t ask me why angels need armor) over his wings (feather, not rainbow wings). His chain mail is a bit corroded and stinky because Michael never bathes, as angels need not. However, chain mail does need upkeep even if angels do not. After all those battles, the perspiration and blood, if indeed angels bleed or sweat, must take its toll on Michael’s armor and garments. Since angels are sinless (except Lucifer and those who went down with him), Michael doesn’t need to shower, so the joke here is that pure Michael might be a bit stinky (only something that people who are sensitive to the slightest odors would think about, Eew).

That’s also why Michael might feel a bit bland, as some philosophical schools of thought would agree that good cannot exist without evil, since there would be nothing by which to compare the former (or the latter). How do you know what is good if there is no bad? (Or the idea of “evil”?) Thus, badness is not such a bad thing and a necessity. In my epic story poem at least.

Gabs of course is Archangel Gabriel, the Bearer of Good Tidings since he appeared before the Virgin Mary to tell her that the child she was bearing was from God. That’s why he’s all happy and has bouncy curls (that was in an older version). Michael has salon-fatigued curls (later chapter) because he’s unsettled in mind and spirit for some reason, especially after seeing Satan’s daughter.

Looking out to heaven’s blue sky (which is never red, btw), Michael sees the approach of his brother Lucifer, which makes him sad, Michael, not Lucifer. For although the Bible and most fire-and-brimstone religions are black and white, I cannot imagine brothers who truly love each other being happy about killing each other and never seeing the other again. Although the Bible tells of God being sad that Lucifer was lost, the general tone of the Church is pretty cold towards Satan.

That’s what’s behind Michael’s “queer mix of love” for his brother Lucifer, as Lucifer, knowing heaven and sin is the only of the archangels to know (in the Biblical sense of having lived) right from wrong, to be distinguished from Archangel Michael, who knows in theory what is right and wrong but has only ever practiced “right”.

I correct myself: On this day, if heaven is measured in such terms, heaven does bleed with red, so I guess the skies must have been pretty purple (or maybe lavender since heaven is light blue. Actually, you would probably get a darkish reddish purple. Merely wishful thinking on my part since lavender is a happier color.)

Lucifer’s nickname is Luz (no, not in the Bible, in my story), which means “light” in Spanish. That leads into my reference to the morning star, Venus, which some would not approve as some do not believe that devils should be referred to as guiding stars.

I don’t care because this is my poem. So, crank up Led Zep’s Houses of the Holy and read this poem to its tempo. You’ll see it reads pretty darn well.

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On to Part Due.

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MY OTHER WRITINGS

What I Said When I saw Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus