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