An Open Christmas Day Letter to President Obama (Long Form (Yes, There Will Be a Short Form))

Ssal Nogard
1210 S Valley View Blvd # 114
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 737-8683

December 25, 2012

Dear Mr. President,

(I have been wanting to call you Mr. President.) I would like to tell about a friend of mine named Steve. Steve is seventy-eight years old, and I help him out whenever I can. He’s proud and, like many mature folk, is fiercely independent. It took me a long time to persuade him to ask his doctor for a disability parking placard, (he’d rather walk farther even if it hurts) but once he started driving those scooters in the Home Depot, you couldn’t get him to stop honking!

Steve is like the typical septuagenarian. If you hold your hand at eye level and begin from the top of his head, and slowly move your hand down, you can find something wrong with him from head to toe. Actually, that is his joke; there is nothing wrong with him other than being a seventy-eight year old. They have conditions. This septuagenarian is different in that despite all his ailments, he helped with your campaign. But let me step back a few decades.

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Steve marched with African Americans for equality. One time, he was threatened before a protest. An anonymous stranger phoned Steve warning him that if he marched with the “Black folk,” he would never see his family again. They meant someone would shoot him dead.

Steve marched with his Black Brothers anyway.

There were few White folks like Steve who marched with African Americans during those days. The stigma alone kept most people away, even sympathizers. But, not even an anonymous death threat could stop Steve.

Fast forward to 2008. Steve was seventy-four years old and excited about the election. (He was torn between you and Hillary, as was I, lol.) On Election Day, when it became evident that you would win, I rushed Steve to a television. “What’s the rush?” he asked. Well, I wanted Steve to be there when the news stations called the election for you. Steve was quiet, and made those funny faces that people who are trying to stop the tears from coming make by stretching their face this way and that. He said he never thought he would see the day a Black man would be president of the United States. (Now, we’re waiting for a Hispanic woman for president!) Steve admitted that after the Civil Rights Movement, he didn’t see things changing fast enough.

Several years ago, when Steve had a close one, he didn’t think he was going to make it. He was ready to go. On the night you were first elected, I asked him if it was worth fighting for to see you become president, and Steve said, “Yes.”

On your inauguration day, I woke up Steve to see you take the Oath of Office. He grumbled because it was 5:30 in the morning on the west coast. But once he was up, he was in thrall. Watching you being sworn in was another great moment that made it worthwhile for him to “stick around a little longer.” Watching Steve watch you being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States was one of those moments that makes a person believe that good indeed does prevail.

Flash forward 2012. It’s so close that Steve and I want to help you campaign. Steve’s reason for campaigning was not because he had a vested interest in Medicare. Steve is comfortable, but not so well off that he can waste his money. He was not concerned about how Romney’s Medicare vouchers would affect him. Steve wanted to campaign because he always fights the good fight. The way he did in the 1960’s. Steve got nothing out of fighting for Civil Rights except that it helps society in the long run. In Nevada, he made phone calls (a real challenge because he is hard of hearing), and we drove people to the polls. I know it does not sound like much, but for a seventy-eight year old (with a former pack-a-day 50-year smoking habit), Steve is one of those people that make the world a better place. He says he would freeze in the January temperatures of D.C., but I know that he would be thrilled to see you being sworn in next month.

President Obama, Steve never did any of these things for himself. Only because he likes to help the little guy and cannot sit still watching the underdog being put upon. He’s one of the few people that I wish I could be more like because if I were, the world would be a much happier place to live.

Switching gears, Mr. President, I have enclosed an Inaugural Poem that I wrote for you. No one asked me to do it. No one gave me the idea. It just came to me (and wouldn’t go away until I wrote it out). I apologize if it sounds presumptuous, but I did not choose to be a writer. It chose me, so to speak. You see, I became an election junkie this past term (much to the chagrin of those around me), reading and watching everything I could on the Internet. I often went to bed with voices from the election spinning in my head. Each morning I reached under my pillow for my phone and checked the election polls for my daily fix of statistics.

Eventually, words came to me and I wrote them out. It does not have a title yet. I call it “A Poem Written in Honor of President Barack Obama’s Inauguration 2013,” with slightly different versions depending on how tired my fingers are from typing. I suppose if someone had commissioned it, it would have a title.

You should know, Mr. President, that I have never done anything political in my life. Last month a few days before the election, for some reason, I wrote the first draft of this Inaugural Poem. I was antsy to get to Nevada to help with your campaign but had some work to do before I could travel. Most people do not have the luxury of taking off work to campaign, and I am one of those people who cannot easily drop everything whenever I wish.

For weeks, your campaign had been emailing me encouraging me to donate, even $5. I know that sounds little, and indeed your campaign messages indicated that even $5 would be appreciated. I did not have the $5 until the very last day for contributions because I had to make sure I had enough to cover my bills while in Nevada campaigning for you.

(Actually, I had a choice between getting a fruit smoothie at Burger King. They were promoting their new fruit smoothies with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon. I had wanted to get a fruit smoothie as it's the only time that I get my servings of fruits and vegetables. However, if I bought the fruit smoothie, then I would not have been able to donate the $5, also a first for me politically. I had never before made a political contribution, and never wanted to, either. But I gave up the fruit smoothie, two actually, I would have ordered mango-pineapple and strawberry, mmm...)

I do not know if my five-dollar contribution made it in time or not, but immediately after I made my small donation, you sent me an email thanking me (you’re welcome) and asking me to make some phone calls. So I did!

I traveled to Las Vegas and only had a few days to make phone calls and drive people to the polls. Steve and I tried to drive as many people to the polls as possible: Dave, a Veteran who had an old knee injury, a gentleman with Multiple Sclerosis, and an elderly lady who could not even walk to the bus stop.

I realize that all this is very little help and would be happy if Steve received some sort of acknowledgement from you. There are too few people in this world for him to go unnoticed by the people for whom Steve has been fighting his entire life, since before you were born, actually, with no reward for himself other than seeing that the Right thing is done.

As well, I am aware that the gift of this poem is not very much. Please know though, that this poem was written from the heart.

President Obama, if you have not already figured out, the point of this letter is: You Are Loved So Very Much By So Many People That You Will Never Know. How does that feel?

I hope you enjoy reading your Inaugural Poem as much as I enjoyed writing it. (I also wrote a poem entitled “A Tale of Two Romneys,” however, I prefer to be positive these days, four more years, yay!) I wish you a productive second term, and like so many Americans, I remain

Abidingly yours,
Ssal Nogard


"Long Form" means that yes, there will be a "Short Form" Open Letter to the President posted soon.

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My other writings:

Inaugural Poem 2013 for President Obama

A Tale of Two Romneys (Like "A Tale of Two Cities" but obviously not as good as Dickens)

My take on Salvador Dali's painting the Metamorphosis of Narcissus at the Tate Modern

Princess Boo Wakes Up On the Wrong Side of the Bed

Princess Boo Wakes Up On the Wrong Side of the Bed (Dr. Seuss Version)

An Open Letter to the President of the United States?

Hm...I wonder if I should write an Open letter to Obama to let him know about the poem I wrote for him...What would I say?

Any thoughts?

Part IV. The Meaning Behind An Inaugural Poem for President Obama

Click here for An Open Letter to President Obama.

Click here for Part I, Part II, and Part III Explanatory Notes for "A Poem Written in Honor of President Barack Obama's Inauguration 2013."

The next stanza is related to the previous regarding some voices still being helplessly entrapped. They are not adequately represented by their leaders. As all the voices on each side make their demands, eventually nothing can be heard, or as you see in the “fiscal cliff” drama happening on Capitol Hill, nothing gets done. Or, very little very slowly. An utter waste of political posturing.

The voices on each side

                       clamored fiercely to be heard.

Above the din there came a cry

                                    of one solitary word.

The Word was heard by all except

                  to each the sound was different.

Each sister spoke the same word,

                   But the sound still felt absurd.

Here’s a recurring theme in my writing: the Tower of Babel. Even if everyone was silent to allow one person to speak, we are all so prejudiced by our own desires, morals, and expectations, that even if we were considerate and courteous enough to take time to listen to one another, we would not be able to understand anyone else but those with whom we identify.

Have you ever had Person A and Person B say the same thing, X, to Person C, and Person C will react entirely differently depending on who does the telling. It’s not only how, it is the fact that Republicans will react badly to what Democrats have to say and vice versa. Predisposed to being negative, a great human virtue.

Yet we Americans still tout diversity like no one else. Lots of languages, lots of things to be learned from each other. America's "Melting Pot", our "Great Experiment" has been the foundation of our faith in ourselves and our future.

Fi-i-inally, we get to modern day America. I wish I had more time to include more great leaders, but there is a certain time relevance to this poem. If I had waited years the way I usually do before presenting a poem, no one would be interested in it. Hence, the rhyme and meter will be perfected over time, years from now, one syllable at a time.

First, you have to figure out who “He” is in this section of the poem. For “He” is looking toward all roads. By now you now that a road represents America’s History, potential choices, actual choices by a diverse people. The Person facing all roads is a leader who is inclusive of all people, rich, poor, disabled, super-smart, entrepreneurial, people who didn’t vote for him (how do wealthy people feel left out again?)

Well from the title of the poem you know who this Inaugural Poem was written for (there’s only one inauguration in the near future). But how can you be sure? Well, three dozen is thirty-six, and 36 + 8 = 44! Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States! And it rhymes with “gait” and “Fate”! I patted myself on the back for that one, as it was unplanned and came like divine inspiration.

With His face turned to all roads,

                                   He walked with easy gait

on our winding road that split

                                three dozen times plus eight;

with Bright Eyes and Brighter Smile,

                                      He offered me his hand:

“Will you go with me he,” He asked,

                                 “Or will you go with Fate?”

So, the last “He” is BO, and you know it’s him because he has Bright Eyes and Brighter Smile! An easy majority of people surveyed found Obama to be likable and trustworthy. Again, the poem’s narrator is given a choice as she was in the beginning with Washington and Lincoln, or Abraham, George (are you hearing hints of “Anybody here, see my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he’s go-aw-aw-one? He freed a lot of people but the good they seem to die young. I just looked around and he’s gone…” That’s why if I had time, I would include more examples of great leaders!

Does that mean if we follow our great leaders that we are contravening Fate? Are we crossing Fate and what other outcome will we reach if not our fate? We will not go into a discussion of free choice and fatalism here. Suffice to say that one can, believe many, choose freely and still go with fate, if that is one’s desire, i.e., to go with fate.

However, if one believes that one is going against fate by following Washington, Lincoln, and Obama, then it is consistent with the last stanza, where the roads plural, are blocked by Fate. Oh, ye Fate! Always causing trouble! See the repeated reference to love and hate. The easy explanation is that these leaders make Americans have faith in their future. The tedious explanation follows.

In the first section, it was explained that the lines of love and Hate in Washington’s eyes are not his but reflecting an already diverse population, as America’s first immigrants were persecuted minorities. Again, we see the lines of love and hate on Fate’s hands, you know, the creases that tell your fortune (forget what they are called). Which means what? That different factions of our country will always hate each other? No, more like there will always be disagreement, great discord if you will.

I took his hand and saw the roads

                             blocked by the Hand of Fate.

On Her palm the tears of love

                           drowned out the lines of hate.

The Halls of Justice are not built

                                         within a single day.

With luck their expanse will never end, 

                                Yet United, We can wait.

The middle lines about the Halls of Justice I remember reading somewhere; they were above an archway or entrance in a building somewhere, leading into a library, I believe. I forget the  author, maybe it was anonymous. I think the saying goes somewhat like this: The Halls of Justice are not built in one day and with any luck, they will never be completed. Very appropriate, I thought. I added the last line in about how we can wait. The first version had, “Yet, Together, We can wait.” I didn’t want to be too Doritos Cheesy by using “United” but hey, we are the United States so stand proud.

Why did I end with the concept of justice? Besides the fact that that’s what my muse ordered me to do. An ex post rationalization suggests that America has been the vanguard of fighting for Justice. Thus, if our country were to be characterized in one respect, it might be that we stand for justice. Whooaah, hold on, I can hear everyone protesting now (at least you’re in agreement). Now, there are many, many, many, people who will disagree with that. I didn’t say that we are far enough along on the road to justice, see again the last stanza about the Halls of Justice never being completed, all I said is that Americans (most of us) do try. And it is our real attempt to be fair that makes everyone optimistic that the best is yet to come!

Add to the mix our great diversity and justice is even harder to attain. In nations with homogeneous populations, e.g., Europe, when you’ve got mostly White Caucasians, you’re not going to get the friction we get here in America, so just because we got more friction doesn’t mean we aren’t doing as well as other advanced nations. You just try adding nonwhites equivalent to 20%, 30%, 40% of your population during a recession when everyone is competing for jobs and see how well you get along.

Americans, for all our individualism, really do love each other. See the scads of flowers and crowds of people coming to Newtown, Connecticut. And that's why we have so much to look forward to in the future!

Check out the Inaugural Poem I wrote for President Obama! With Cliff Notes and Cheat Sheets, i.e., Background and Explanatory Notes, the Meaning behind the Rhyme! Here's a nice formatted copy of  My Inaugural Poem for President Obama on Amazon, (with an Author's Note, lol).

A poem I wrote sort of for Mitt: "A Tale of Two Romneys by Ssal Nogard." Check out Politifact, a Political Fact Checker that follows elections closely. Politifact handed out It's Lie of the Year Award, a dubious distinction for the person who can most seriously warp the truth.

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MY OTHER WRITINGS AND POETRY

PrincessBoo Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

What I Said When I Saw Salvador Dali's the Metamorphosis of Narcissus in the Tate Modern (Besides, Wow, This is Really Small!)

A Story I Wrote When I Couldn't Make it to the Waterfalls of Iguazu (Iguacu)

If You are a Led Zeppelin Fan, You Will Like This

A Modern Day Medusa (with a lot of Baggage and a Conscience)

I Wanted to Bet on the Election but It's Not Allowed Over Here

Click here for An Open Letter to President Obama.

Having had time to catch up with Nate Silver's 538 Blog, which covered the presidential election in a rigorous statistical way for the layman, i.e., spoke stats in an accessible way that people without statistical training could make sense of all the election polls that came out daily, I remember that about three weeks before the election. I called all the Swing States for Obama. (I cannot recall if I included North Carolina or not, but if I did, I was only one state off.)

Still, I was at most only one Swing State off, while all the other election, poll, and statistical pundits were several states off. Note that I kept with my prediction over three before while Nate Silver, ABC, NBA, yadda yadda yadda maintained that Florida was still a toss up, with most of them believing that Florida would go to Romney.  Most also thought Romney had a slight edge in Virginia.

See Nate Silver's 538 Blog's Predictions One Day Before the Election.

However, I was a true believe in Obama Man until the very last. I staunchly refused to agree that Virginia or Florida would go to Romney, and even on the night of the election, when Romney was leading in Florida, I was in denial (much like Carl Rove about Ohio). Lo and behold, a couple of days later, Florida's still counting and has now certified their state's election votes for Obama. So, even with the latest polls up to the day before the electin, seems the pundits and statisticians didn't do any better than my forecast 3.5 weeks before.

It's like I said; it's hard for the pundits and statisticians sitting in their studio and computer labs to see what is going on in the real world, with volunteers standing in front of post offices and groceries stores, registering voters, giving people rides to early voting polls from churches and back, cold calling threatening people that if they do not vote early, they WILL get another phone call from us. Actually, Democrats registered new voters at a ratio of 10:1, that's ten-to-one! That means that if each new registered Republican in Florida voted (although it is highly unlikely to get 100% of new registered voters to vote), then all the Dems had to do was to get 11% of new registered voters to vote to match the Republicans.

(Tangent: It is the ground game, baby, and underlying this is a profound love for Obama. Ideas and Obama. You have to see it to believe it. The people in the Nevada State Democratic Party Office were not working until 11 p.m. each night for a candidate that only somewhat inspired them, like many conservatives felt about Romney, the volunteers and staff at the Nevada State Democratic Headquarters were full on stoked about BO. There were actually many people who flew in from around the country, taking time off from work, to help with the campaign, 'cuz they felt that they couldn't just sit there and do nothing!

Anyway, we partied late at the Mandalay but not as late as is typical for Sin City because it had been a long day. Many of us had only slept a few hours over the course of several days. But we were happy with a halo that came from the very core. Tangent's end, if there is such a thing, lol That mean's that's a joke and I think it's funny but I have to highlight it or else no one else will notice it! End of tangent, get it? Never mind, a friend and I are still debating what is meant by "end" in this case.)

So keeping up with all these stats, I looked up the odds on the election, because as any good statistician knows, odds on betting are usually at least as accurate as polls taken by Gallup, Rasmussesn, ABC, CNN, internal polls by the Romney party (see 538 blog for discussion of Romney's Exceedingly Inaccurate Internal Polls "When Internal Polls Mislead, a Whole Campaign May Be to Blame") because people put their money where their mouths are! The overseas gambling websites were offering 8-to-1 if Obama won 310-329 electoral votes, which was what I thought he would win (I was sure BO would win all of the Swing States, plus or minus one, again lol!) I was so confident, I was willing to bet money that I did not have!

I kept trying to place a bet on all the sites that OddsChecker sent me to and only a few sites had bets for predicting electoral votes. Hey, it's one thing t o bet on whether Ohio goes Republican or Democrat, or bet on the number of Swing States each candidate wins, it's another thing to think you know enough about each Swing State to predict what the electoral vote will be! The only site I found that gave odds on electoral votes was LadBrokes and they didn't take bets from Americans. Why not? I wondered, and looked everywhere for sites that took bets on the election. Oh, it occurred to me, probably not allowed in the U.S. because it would lead to some real perversion of the system. That dream lasted all of 43 minutes.

So, in order to keep me from talking Election Day In and Night Out, another one of my friends said, "All right already, I'll give you 8 to 1 odds if you will just be quiet about the election from now until then!" He meant Election Day and I said that I did not think that I could go that long. Could I at least talk about the election for two hours a day while my bet was on? Okay, he said, so I planned, I planned to bet but never had any money to bet, because if you read my previous post, I was hard up scrounging up $5 to donate to Obama's campaign, which I eventually was able to save up, ;-)

My friend asked me: So how much are you planning to put down?
I said: If I had the money, $500.
I'm going to keep it if you lose, he said. Tired of all this nonstop jibber jabber. When have you ever been so interested in elections?
I said: I've been since Gore v. Bush when the Supreme Court Justices who always championed states rights, took over the state just so they could rule for Bush!

So, by the time I had $5 to donate to Obama's fund, I had to head off to Las Vegas to help with the grassroots campaign and Election Day came and went, and it wasn't until two days after the election that I had enough to gamble. When my friend saw the electoral results, he said, "Whew! Thank goodness you were to poor to gamble. I would have been in to you for thousands!"

Now, this is coming from a girl who never gambles when in Las Vegas. I hit all the buffets and spend my tie chowing down on food until I have a belly ache, then pop out the Mylanta, and chow down some more!

However, once, I did gamble slots at a nickel machine when they still used real coins that made that semi-magical, entirely-cheap clanking noise and won 72 nickels! That's from betting only 1 nickel! Or maybe I won 144 nickels, somewhere between $3.60 - $7.20. I immediately stopped, did not make one more bet, because I KNOW WHEN TO STOP, collected my Handful of Nickels, and waited for a friend to come by because they were So Heavy I couldn't walk anywhere without them without being stared at and was afraid that someone would hit me over the head for my loot.

Thus it was ironic that the ONLY time I've ever wanted to bet, it wasn't to be, but at least I know in my heart that if I COULD HAVE bet, I would have been on the bullseye because when you've got something to believe in, you simply cannot lose!

4 More Years!
Cuatro Mas Anos!
Quatre Something Ans?


Check out the Inaugural Poem I wrote for President Obama! With Cliff Notes and Cheat Sheets, i.e., Background and Explanatory Notes, the Meaning behind the Rhyme!

A poem I wrote sort of for Mitt: "A Tale of Two Romneys by Ssal Nogard."

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MY OTHER WRITINGS


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

PrincessBoo Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

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

Part II. Background to Inaugural Poem for President Obama & What Should be the Title?

Click here for An Open Letter to President Obama.

***Note: The Inaugural Poem for Barack Obama (written with love) has been reformatted and revised for better rhyme, rhythm, and hopefully, enjoyment.*** 

**Once more, I have finished reformatting the inaugural poem's stanzas so that they read better. Also improved the rhythm, meter, and rhyme. 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!**

**Want a copy with 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!*

So far, I've received a few suggestions:

"The Road to America"
"America: Past, Present, and Future"
"I Took His Hand Because I Had Faith In Him" (lol)

Okay, so I've only got one suggestion, and it isn't so subtle as all the other inaugural titles, like: "Dedication" and "On the Pulse of the Morning", or Elizabeth Alexander's "Of History and Hope".

How about: Freedom and Fate? No, The Roads of America? Help me out here folks, referring to this as "My Inaugural Poem for B.O." is getting tiresome, or maybe it's not...

Okay, back to some background info for the rest of the poem. Now where was I...

The “road’s most uncertain bend” is the outcome of the Civil War, when our country was closest to dissolving. Lincoln held America steadfast during the Civil War and refused to let the South secede, believing that the United States was better as a whole, than split apart. He said:

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.
Lincoln had faith in the direction he moved our country, and he was right to have faith in a free America. Freedom, today, however, takes so many turns. It seems that everybody has a freedom they claim is being infringed upon. Unfortunately, one man's freedom is another man's chains. So, how does limiting the right of two consensual adults to practice sex the way they want, see Lawrence v. Texas, further the Constitution? Sodomy as a practice, people, was not forbidden in the Bible. Sodom was a city in Old Testament, whose people practiced wicked ways and was punished. There was no mention of this type of sexual behavior. The word "sodomy" developed when Religigos took the ancient city of Sodom and ascribed to it what it believed to be wicked behavior.

Increasingly more and more after each election, Americans are petitioning to secede from the United States. I think it only seems more because the Internet makes it easier to express your discontent. When Texas petitioned to secede from the U.S. last month after the election, Austin, the college town, and hence liberal stronghold, petitioned the administration to secede from Texas if Texas succeeded in seceding from the United States, lol! Go Longhorns!

No sooner than I took his hand,

                                           then he was gone again.

And saw he held me steadfast on

                      the road’s most uncertain bend.

I shifted as one road descended

                                    while the other rose.

One road rising while the other road falling refers to the increasing bipolar views of Americans. Each side thinks the other is going to hel* in a handbasket while his own side is what makes America great. Since the Civil War, except during periods when we were a strong front against outsiders, e.g., World Wars, the U.S. has grown increasingly red and blue. The Brothers’ wounds that they received during the Civil War is not wounding. Sometimes, extremists in the red and blue states seem acrimonious enough to break away from the Union.

On each a Brother thrust out a wound

                           that grew and refused to mend.

The road to justice has not been easy since the Civil War. Justice, often portrayed as a blindfolded woman holding scales, is lying (laying?) between two roads, one conservative, one liberal, one right, one more right. Her blindfold is dripping red blood from the lives lost during the Civil Rights Movement, Church bombings, forced integration. Nonetheless, Americans have an abiding faith in blind justice.

Between the roads a women lay

                                      a blindfolded bound her head.

She lay as if she slumbered through

                                  the blindfold dripping red.

Her scales were of the lightest touch

                               a whisper broke the balance

The slightest swing on either side 

                                 changed who came out ahead.

In the last few elections, most notably in 2000 which resulted in the famous Gore vs. Bush, the Swing States are so important that the majority of election donation funds are routed there. People in strongly Blue and Red States hardly see any of the vicious, truth-distorting ads that run continuously for months prior to each election. The scales that swing one way or another at the slightest breeze symbolize how fickle some of the electorate can be. If you read Nate Silver’s 538 blog, you know about tipping point states, and how only a handful of states can make the difference in a general election. Is anyone thinking popular election here?

“There is no justice,” did the Blind Lady
                                                       state with Warranty.
“For even with my blindfold 'tis

                                                    near impossible to see.

Yeah, it’s hard to met out justice. Laws are overinclusive, underinclusive. Three-strikes laws that require mandatory 25 year jail sentence on a third offense no matter what threw a homeless man in jail for stealing a bottle of vitamins because he was starving in the winter.

That’s why I say regardless of right or left or right or wrong (a little off topic but my ADD says see Princess Boo Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed in satirical prose and children’s rhyming poem form). Again, regardless of right or wrong, whichever side “rules” should take care of the poor and week because there is no better measure of the greatness of a society than the degree to which it takes care of its poor, old, sick, and vulnerable. I don’t know if this is attributable to anyone in particular, but have often heard that said. I agree.

Only clincher is, a small subset say abortion is the most important fight to fight (so they vote Republican), others say the poor (so they vote Democrat), others cry we have to protect the richest 2% from higher taxes (so they vote Romney), and so it never ends…
There is no power equal to:

                                   the strong who shield the poor.”

And that is the most that justice

                                       without sight can guarantee.

Okay, Ladies and Gents, it's time to let your friends know 'cuz wouldn't it be super-duper cool if I could read this at the inauguration? You can say, hey, I was the 34th person to read that poem, ever! And now they make poor students memorize it in school! So, if you love Obama and want a beautiful inaugural poem for him, you know what to do! (I don't because I'm old and computer illiterate, that's why I'm always updating (always finding something wrong with the formatting) so sorry to bugya'!)

Glad to see a visitor from Brazil! It's a Small, Small World! Yup, I have this song on my MP3 player! =-)

Find me on Facebook

My Inaugural Poem for President Obama on Amazon Be the First to Buy the New and Improved First Edition!

Part IV Explanatory Notes, Meaning Behind Inaugural Poem

If you didn't like this Inaugural Poem, I guarantee you'll hate A Tale of Two Romneys!

The Huffington Post compares past Inaugural Poems

If you didn't like this inaugural poem, you most definitely won't like A Tale of Two Romneys.

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MY OTHER WRITINGS:

What I Said When I Saw Salvador Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Salvador Dali's Painting of the Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Princess Boo Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

Part I: Background to Inaugural Poem for Obama by Ssal

Click here for An Open Letter to President Obama.

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!

Still writing…updating soon…Remember to forward this link to your Facebook Friends, many thanks!

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.

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!

The next section, delineated by my usual asterisk and squiggly symbols begins the journey (oh no, not another poem about a journey!) The hand extended is George Washington, who has the face of Battle and Destiny. And no, he wasn’t full of hate; I just mean that there are a bunch of ideas, thoughts, and feelings that a President represents in a diverse country. Since Washington was a great warrior and also didn’t want to be King of the World, I refer to him as the “Gentle Giant”.

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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,

and thought I heard the laughter

                       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

                                          pressing me to stay.

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.

The gentle giant nudged me forward

                                        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