What an amazing day it has been in America today. On the bus this morning people were talking about the impending inauguration. Downtown, people were talking and walking with buttons pinned to their winter coats. I did not get to escape the library to watch the ceremony on TV even though pretty much the only ones in the building were staff. But we streamed the audio over the internet.
I got to hear Obama mess up saying the oath of office and that made me laugh. How nervous he must have been! And I heard his speech, what a beautiful speech! And I somehow managed not to cry. I saved it for when I was at home and got to listen to a replay on public radio. If you didn’t get the chance to hear it, you can read the text or you can watch a video. And I just have to say, wasn’t Michelle Obama’s suit gorgeous?
I wanted very much to hear the poem, Praise Song for the Day, by Elizabeth Alexander, but didn’t get to. But, the NY Times has the text in full. I really like it and plan to get a copy of it when Graywolf publishes it in February.
My favorite lines, one that comes in the middle of the poem:
We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
And the final two lines:
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp — praise song for walking forward in that light.
I think Alexander managed to capture the hope and possibility that Obama inspired in his run for office. I also like how what is praised is the everyday, the work and struggle of life. A beautiful poem. And you bet I will be taking at look at Alexander’s other work too.
You missed nothing in the presentation of the poem.
Happy Inauguration Day, Stefanie!
My wife and I, along with my in-laws were glued to the tv set all morning.
Apparently, Justice Roberts stated the oath incorrectly, thus throwing Obama off.
I agree with quillhill. Alexander really didn’t do justice to her own poem. Perhaps she was nervous? I know I would’ve been.
P.S. I’m woefully behind on my comments — and I just discovered several of your older comments in my spam folder! Arrghh! I apologize for that! But I think I’ve fixed the spam problem now.
I agree that the poem perfectly captured the hope (and I too particularly loved the section with “any sentence begun”). It’s almost as if she managed to say in poetry what he’d said in prose. Wonderful. Wonderful ceremony. Wonderful event!
O Frabjous Day!
It was beautiful.
Yes, the day itself… AND Michelle’s “get-up”.
I am excited for the great U.S. of A.
And for Canada [Barack's first stop is Canada!]
I am so glad that America got it right this time. So glad. Elated!
It’s a big job.
This is the man for the job.
Yes, I thought the poem was beautiful and so appropriate. I hope you get to see some of the other highlights of the day.
In case you haven’t heard by now, it was actually Justice Roberts who flubbed the oath. Apparently he decided to give the oath from memory and wasn’t counting on the pressure of the moment (which Obama characteristically showed no signs of). He did apologize for it later. Well, Obama did say there would be bumps in the road…
Whoops! Wil already cleared up the oath thing–I should read the other comments before commenting!
to be fair he was following along w/ chief justice roberts
and it was roberts who messed up.
I. Lost. Interest in. The poem. When. She started. Reading. It like. This.
I don’t think that’s a good poem, though. In fact, I hesitate to even call it poetry. I think it’s just a mess–kind of like Obama’s inaugural address.
Overall, a pretty underwhelming day, despite the history that was made.
I lost interest a bit in the poem whilst Alexander was reading it, but I’d be interesting in reading some of her poetry on my own..
Yup, history got made today. I didn’t see any of it, of course, so it’s very interesting to read the accounts on the blogs. The tone is amazing across the board – he really is viewed as a saviour, and I think there are few people who could carry that burden the way Obama seems able to.
Even getting up at 3.30am to watch it didn’t spoil the inauguration for me! I’m unsure about the poem though.
A tremendous day and so much to hope for. Reminds me so much of the the promise of JFK (old enough to have watched that one too!).
Loved the poem and loved the second minister (sorry not sure of the name) who had the humourous lines ‘ brown can stick around, red can get ahead etc’ Fantastic.
As for the parade, does every school have a marching band?!!
Yes, such a wonderful, optimistic day. We listened to the address on Swiss radio and then watched some of the highlights on the computer – such an emotional moment. The poem here is just lovely – thank you.
I didn’t want to get up at 1am to watch the pomp and I have a lot of fear of this President, but he’s here now and I will hope for the best. After all, I trust Colin Powell, and his endorsement speech certainly gave me reason to hope. Here’s to a positive future!
How exciting to be where it was all happening. My girlfriend and I were glued to our seats watching TV. What a wonderful day it was yesterday. Still cannot believe it has happened.
What joy and promise we have to look forward too.
Carol Rumens writing for guardian.co.uk has a fairly negative review of Alexander’s poem. I didn’t hear the poem, so I can’t say. Guess I’ll have to pull it up and read it for myself.
Just did. Not impressed.
Stefanie, the poem has received very mixed reviews on Read Street too. Like you, I enjoyed the theme of simple American lifestyles and ideals — I think it fit well with Obama’s call for sacrifice and a return to basic value. But others were hoping for bigger things, and were turned off by her delivery.
I couldn’t follow all of the poem and haven’t had a chance to read it on line. Alexander is going to be doing a reading in Indianpaolis in a few weeks that I may still go tol But if her delivery is always like that, it might be a difficult hour to endure, which is too bad. I’ve liked the few poems of hers that I have read previously.
It was such a wonderful day! I was glad to watch the inauguration at school with a crowd of other people. I couldn’t help but tear up now and then. I liked the speech too, and the poem, and I thought the closing prayer was great (Rick Warren’s — not so much).
I liked the poem too. I’ve seen so many negative reviews of it, it’s nice to stop by here and find that I was not alone in my positive reaction!
I really enjoyed the poem, and like you, I immediately wrote her name down and decided I wanted to find out more about her work! All in all, a very moving day, full of promise. Even for us up here in Canada, we were all paying attention too. Now the challenge is to fulfill that hope (the last three days have been a good start!) – at least there is hope, finally. Thanks for your wonderful post, Stefanie!
Qillhill, hi how’s it going? Nice to “see” you again. Was the presentation that bad? Then I am glad I missed it.
wil, thanks for the info it was Justice Roberts that goofed. Of course at this time it’s been all over the news. And it’s too bad Alexander didn’t do justice to her poem. I remember Maya Angelou’s. That woman knows how to to deliver a poem!
Inkslinger, yes, I thought she did well to capture the feelings that Obama had inspired. The whole day was inspiring!
Daphne, wasn’t it? It still makes me happy.
Cip, it’s nice to hear that other countries are glad about the new prez too. I feel like we have managed to redeem ourselves a tiny bit for the past eight years.
Sylvia, heh, bumps indeed and he handled the swearing in quite well as I now have seen and heard an abundance of commentary on Roberts’ gaff. I got to catch a highlights of the day that night and got to see Barack and Michelle dancing at the first ball. They are such a beautiful couple!
jgodsey, I heard later that he didn’t even have a copy of the text in front of him, that he thought he’d do it from memory. Guess he couldn’t.
Brandon, really? I can understand about the poem especially if it was delivered poorly, but I thought Obama’s address was appropriate and inspiring. But then I was so happy Bush was no longer in office that Obama could have grunted the whole thing and I would have been happy.
Michelle, yours seems to be the consensus. I am glad now that I didn’t get to see/hear it read.
Litlove, it is rather scary to me that he is viewed as a savior. The first time he makes a mistake, it could get ugly. Hopefully Obama will be able to handle it with aplomb.
devoted reader, up at 3:30 am to watch? Wow, that’s dedication!
Bob, I can’t remember JFK but I have heard the same comments from those who do. It gives me even more hope since JFK is still so well thought of. The second minister was great, wasn’t he? Lots of school bands, one from every state. Makes for a long parade.
Verbivore, it was an emotional day. I was tired at the end of it. I can only imagine how exhausted the Obamas must have been.
Bikkuri, I am curious about what makes you say you have fear about Obama? But yes, lets’ hope for a positive future!
Auburn, joy and promise is how a lot of people feel. It’s nice for a change
Linda, I’ll have to look up the Rumens review. I am curious about it.
Dave, it sounds like the delivery was terrible. Too bad. I can see why people would want something grander, I was thinking it would be bigger, but I am sort of glad in a way that it wasn’t.
Cam, if you got to Alexander’s reading in a few weeks I will be very interested to know how she does.
Dorothy, what fun to watch with a crowd of people! They were playing it at my school but I couldn’t get away to watch it.
Kate, yay! someone who liked the poem. I am glad too that there are some who enjoyed it. I was getting worried.
Susan, it is hard to like a poem that is badly delivered so I am glad I only read it. Now I can look forward to reading some of her other work without being biased. And it is nice to hear folks in Canada are glad about Obama too. He has managed to not only bring hope to us in the US but in other countries too. I can’t say how happy that makes me.
When he was lining up crowds of people to wave signs saying “a change we can believe in” he still hadn’t let us know what changes we were in for. This just melted down to the same sloganism as people clambering over the ruins of WTC shouting “USA USA” about 7 years back. I can’t believe in a change that is undefined.
The question of his legitimacy as a candidate – because of his Kenyan birth records – was swept under the carpet. This leaves me wondering about integrity, which is important regardless of what Clinton fans say.
He is inexperienced as an executive.
He claims to be a Christian, but embraced his title of Messiah. Any proper Christian should have been offended if someone tried to label them as the Savior, and rejected it.
His choice to staff Hillary makes me think some dirty deals are being made under the table.
His speech in Kenya stating that America has a responsibility to ensure that every Kenyan has a job, aside from being wrong, tells me that he doesn’t intend to protect America’s interests or is willing to say whatever is politically expedient at the moment without considering ramifications.
Anyhow, those are a few items which make me nervous. Colin Powell addressed some of these in his endorsement speech. His main point was that while Obama is inexperienced and doesn’t know what he needs to know, he learned a lot in 6 months during the race. Colin said he liked the way Obama studies. As I said, I trust Powell, so I am waiting hopefully, to see what goes down. One fear is that, after November the drive to study could vanish, since the election was won. I hope he is ego-driven to make his mark as a President, so that he continues to study.
Powell’s speech is probably one of the best political speeches of the last several years. He addressed positive and negative points about both candidates. He made no attempt to cover up McCain’s strengths nor Obama’s weaknesses. He summed up his key reasons for selecting Obama at the end. He would have made the best President in decades, if not longer.
Let’s see what good stuff Obama can do!
Stephanie, I today to interview Elizabeth Alexander, whose poem at the Obama inauguration has sparked lots of debate on the Read Stret blog — as it has here. She discusses her preparation, the reading and the sometimes harsh reaction. You can read excerpts at http://www.baltimoresun.com/readstreet, and link to the complete, 15-minute interview.
Bikkuri, thanks for the explanation. I can understand why you feel the way you do. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that he fulfills the hope he has inspired in so many and alleviates the fears of others and turns out to be a really great president.
Dave, thanks for the link! She has some good things to say about her poem and poetry in general. And I have to agree, she certainly got a national discussion of poetry started!