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Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 7689
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 11:08 am: | 
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Some are saying that poetry was already dead and she buried it.
Below is a transcript of the poem.
AALBC. We print. You decide.
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January 20, 2009
Transcript
Inaugural Poem
The following is a transcript of the inaugural poem recited by Elizabeth Alexander, as provided by CQ transcriptions.
Praise song for the day.
Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."
We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."
We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
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. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 13385
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 11:32 am: |
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Libby Alexander's poem just further contributed to the lackluster proceedings. The whole ceremony was rather anti-climatic. Even the Justice administering the oath of office couldn't get the words out right.
Obama's speech was a downer, providing no memorable lines for future generations to quote. Michelle looked like a deer in the headlights. Aretha's singing was belabored.
Rev. Lowry's benediction did inject a little soul into the dead program.
I ended up investing my hopes in the up beat parade which followed, and relied on it to raise my spirits. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 7692
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 11:52 am: |
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Rev. Lowry's benediction did inject a little soul into the dead program.
(The people who slammed Libby Alexander praised Rev. Lowery)
I ended up investing my hopes in the up beat parade which followed, and relied on it to raise my spirits.
(Try bourbon and soda next time. Works fine. My spirit were raised because, unlike many past inaugurations, I was somewhere making some MONEY during it.
Ain't that what Obama and Bill Cosby would want us to do? Work and be profitable, rather than buckdancing and snatching poundcake?) |
Carey
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Carey
Post Number: 1563
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 12:16 pm: |
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Hello,
The poem was disjointed. I know dis-jointed, that's my writing style. But hey, her narratives shifted. At times I didn't know if she was talking to me, with me, or for me.
"A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."
We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."
We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see."
Then ol'girl busts in with:
"Say it plain, that many have died for this day"
It soon stopped being a poem. Well, I guess you can call it what you want but it turned into a dry speech.
But Obama's speech was right on time.
Look, wwe all know he can get up there and tear the house town.He could have broke up in there and started doing the Cabbage Patch and the house would have erupted. It would have been no problem for him to hit the crowd with a combustible type speech. If that's what some were looking for, they will be disappointed. They will be just disappointed as the church member that goes to church to hear the mass choir and the childrens choir sings instead. We all know that Obama feels the pulse of human emotions. It's obvious that he has modeled some of the greatest speakers. The purpose of his speech was not to arouse but to inform. There's a marked difference between those styles of speeches. Unlike the campaign trail, he not longer had to "convince" or "persuade', at least not in this speech.
He will have plenty of time to do the do, this speech was just what the doctor ordered.
He did a fine job. No, he did an excellent job.
Some individuals just can never be pleased. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 13391
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 12:33 pm: |
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We are both expressing opinions, Carey. A consensus among the pundits reveals that Obama rejected the presidential tradition of making the inaugural speech "poetic" and the State of the Union speech "prosaic".
In doing this, he lost a chance to make the inaugural ceremony a celebration rather than a eulogy.
It all depends on what individuals prefer to hear, and there is no right or wrong. |
Thumper
Veteran Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 750
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 12:37 pm: |
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Hello All,
The problem with all of the inaugaration programs was that "we" were not in it. From the concert on to the program yesterday, the stuff was dry because it was all someone's view of "proper decorum". How boring is that?? Yesterday's program the best thing about it was the oath and Rev. Lowry. Yeah, the oath was messed up but it was funny and human. Lowry was entertaining and truthful. I have to agree with Cynique on Aretha. But, in the Queen's defense, there's only so much you can do with "My Country 'Tis of Thee". It's not like she had the National Anthem or America the Beautiful to work with. I think it would have all been better if the treated the whole thing like a black baptist church program and called it a day. Then it would have been lively. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 3371
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 12:42 pm: |
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I am not familiar with her work, so I do not know if that poem was in keeping with her style or what. I was not incredibly impressed or moved as she performed it. For example, I was not immediately moved to purchase a copy for my private collection as I did with Maya Angelou's poem she did for the United Nations event.
Having said that, I do not envy this woman's task. If it would have been me, my whole mind would have shut down under the pressure and I would have fled the country over the weekend.
But also, the poem reads better than it sounds. In print, I actually like it and the tone it evokes. It is actually a very quiet poem, if that makes any sense. I might have called it "A Whisper for the Day." But it was, perhaps, not "big" enough for the actual day yesterday. |
Carey
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Carey
Post Number: 1565
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 12:44 pm: |
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Let the church say Amen, ...AMEN! |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 3373
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 01:04 pm: |
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"We" were not in it?
Which inauguration were you all watching? 
Folks, that was the blackest inauguration we have ever seen and likely ever will see (even on the occasion of another Black POTUS). Heck--it would have been the blackest inauguration ever even if, at the last minute, they had substituted Obama and family with the G. W. Bushes! LOL |
Kola_boof
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 4895
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 03:40 pm: |
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I have to admit...
I HATE that poem.
Why didn't he call on Lucille Clifton
or Wanda Coleman?
There's a Chinese female poet that
I once heard...loved her.
I wish she could have been tapped
to do it.
. |
Steve_s
Veteran Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 429
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 07:30 pm: |
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Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
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.
Thumper, Remember we were talking about the South Carolina church in "Just Above My Head," where the gospel singer "Arthur" picks up on his accompanist "Jimmy's" implied message in the spiritual he opens with? And then when Branford had the Tonight Show band and Bob Dole, then the Republican candidate, walked out and they played "So What?" That semiotic stuff? They not only don't recognize it any more, they don't even respect it when you point it out to them.
Bush couldn't even voice the simple Christian precept, "Love your neighbor like yourself," or the idea that "we do not directly love ourselves--what we effectively love is to be loved by others, that is, we love others to love us." (to quote the Slovenian critic Slavoj Zizek)
Bush's exact words were:
"We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor just like you like to be liked yourself."
Thumper, I may email you some time, I think I still have your address |
Steve_s
Veteran Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 430
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 10:15 am: |
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And another thing. Joseph Lowery ended the benediction for the President of the United States on the lyrics from a Big Bill Broonzy blues, and they don't recognize that, either |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 13402
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 10:34 pm: |
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Are the lyrics you speak of, Steve, the ones taken from the wry old black saying that Lowrey recited a variation on in his benediction?
If so, I never knew that those words were from a blues song. Considering how long blacks have been reciting this little verse, I have to wonder if the blues song was inspired by the poem. Whatever.
Old version: "If you black, you stay back, if you brown, stick around, if you yellow, you mellow, if you red go ahead, if you white you're all right."
Lowrey updated the lyrics to reflect the changes brought about by Obama's election which has hopefully created an atmosphere where these old rules no longer apply. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 3381
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 23, 2009 - 10:28 pm: |
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Cynique, I tend to agree with you that the song was likely inspired by the old saying instead of the other way around.
LOL @ Steve--Somewhere there is an entire website devoted to Bush's mixed up sayings and goofs. If I ever run across it again I'll post it here. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 7695
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2009 - 10:28 am: |
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the stuff was dry because it was all someone's view of "proper decorum".
(True dat. The main thing everyone was concerned with was not offending anybody. Dull is the safest way to go.)
But, in the Queen's defense, there's only so much you can do with "My Country 'Tis of Thee
(Nuff said)
Folks, that was the blackest inauguration we have ever seen and likely ever will see (
(God help us all)
Why didn't he call on Lucille Clifton
or Wanda Coleman?
(Too black. Too strong)
I am not familiar with her work, so I do not know if that poem was in keeping with her style or what
(She has done better. Much, much better. Read her poem "The Venus Hottentot" and the book it's in. She has suffered from the same thing that has destroyed many of our fine poets and writers--as they advance in White Academia they get duller and duller-- |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 7696
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2009 - 10:30 am: |
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To me the poem ain't POETIC. A poem can be many things or many forms but one thing it got to have is RHYTHM and this poem don't got it.
This poem is what I call Stanziated Prose. It is a form that is popular today because lots of so called "poets"--black as well as white, don't got no rhythm and are too lazy to write stories or novels and so they write these snippets and call them poems.
Like I said, she has done better. |
Hen81
Veteran Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 169
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2009 - 11:29 am: |
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One thing that is often lost in the history of discussion on events are the conditions that surrounded the event. The cold weather affected everything. Aretha told Larry King that she was not up to her usual standards because of the cold temperature and she does not do well in the cold.
The stringed instruments portion was recorded music and those great masters did not play because it was too frigid. I imagine that a poet would be affected in her delivery just as a singer would be in their vocals.
www.DTPollard.com |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 7705
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2009 - 11:37 am: |
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I imagine that a poet would be affected in her delivery just as a singer would be in their vocals.
(In this case I think he fault lies with the poem itself) |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 13420
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 25, 2009 - 11:04 am: |
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When speaking to the masses on momentuous occasions, academics should keep it simple; specifically, poets should make their inaugural poems palatable for public consumption, not delectable for their professional peers and lofty intellectuals.
The only thing more elitist than Libby Alexander's poem, was Ruth Miriam Garnett's critique of the it.
An inaugural poem, like common citizens, should be trite and simple. There would be no aftermath of controversy and disappointment if a poetic offering went something like this:
Today we hail our incoming head of state
and, boy, is his responsibility great!
We are confident that he'll do his best,
and wish all his programs success.
We hope they'll be no more war,
that the ecomony will recover and soar.
We are grateful that God's on our side,
even if other countries think that we're snide.
Our foundling fathers were a great bunch of guys
who tried real hard to be wise.
What makes America the best of nations
is how it got rid of all those plantations.
So let's go forward with our heads held high,
and put our suppport behind this new guy.
Together we can't lose
because we know how to dodge shoes. |
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