Yes, the inauguration was beautiful (especially Aretha’s singing.) I was happy that Obama chose to have a poet read at his inauguration. It was sad to see so many people streaming away as fast as possible as poor Elizabeth Alexander read her poem, and sadder still to hear Jon Stewart poke fun at her last night on the Daily Show saying “I’m no laureate, but shouldn’t poetry rhyme?” Really, Jon? Honestly! Colbert had Pinksy on his show, and you don’t even know what “free verse” is??
But the poem itself lacked…the things that I usually tell new poets make up a good poem. Imagery. Specifics. Sound effects – not just rhyme, but onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhythm – seemed totally lacking in the poem. There wasn’t enough sensory data to stir anything in me, really…it just seemed vague and dull. Is it hard to write an “occasional” poem? Undoubtedly. But I wonder what Rita Dove might have done with the opportunity…or Yusef Komunyakaa…or any number of other poets. (I’ve never seen Rita D. read, but I know Yusef can rock an oral recitation of poetry like nobody else…)A little flair, a little drama, a little verbal gymnastics – might have helped lift the poem a bit, to help people recognize the poem as a poem (without resorting to rhyme.) A little risk might have helped the poem too – it seemed safe to the point of boredom. But what do I know? My husband and mother point out that she probably had to have the poem approved by Obama’s people as well, so that may have influenced the poem as well. I’d hate to have politicos reading my work over my shoulder!
What did you think?
Jeannine Hall Gailey served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington and the author of Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, Unexplained Fevers, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and winner of the Moon City Press Book Prize and SFPA’s Elgin Award, Field Guide to the End of the World. Her latest, Flare, Corona from BOA Editions, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She’s also the author of PR for Poets, a Guidebook to Publicity and Marketing. Her work has been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac, Verse Daily and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, and JAMA.
Collin Kelley
I’ve written a number of poems for events and it is quite difficult. Writing something that will translate to millions of people around the world is a daunting task for an occasion such as this. I liked the poem. She wasn’t writing the poem for the hyper-critical poetry community but for the vast millions who never read poetry. I, for one, was just happy to see a poet and poetry included.
jeannine
Yes, I wanted to feel that way too. And then I was all: it could have been a better poem.
That’s all.
But yay for a president who values poetry at all! It just would have been nice if the two mill peeps had been able to hear a poem that made was passionate and interesting as well.
But yes, it’s a difficult task for sure. I’ve read several Obama poems (Marvin Bell’s among them) that were much better than Elizabeth’s.
Felicity
My mimser was like, “Couldn’t they get Maya Angelou?” (Maya Angelou was the speaker at my college graduation, and my mother has worshipped her ever since.)
I thought it was okay, but I was very disappointed with the end, which seemed really flat. It needed…what do ye poets call it? The “Leap”?
Yokel (TKS)
I liked the poem okay, mostly for little fragments that were, for me, evocative. The snapshots of the Everydayness we all share as Americans.
Everyone in the audience at the cafe where I watched the inauguration listened with rapt attention and seemed appreciative.
The first critical comment I heard came from John Carlson on KOMO 1000radio this morning. He was pretty rude about it and clearly didn’t get it.
But I can see why folks who aren’t into poetry wouldn’t “get” her poem. I think she was aiming for simplicity and accessibility while forgetting that so many nonpoets only think of poems as rhyming. Not a fatal flaw, but it certainly forces her into the harsh light of criticism from multiple audiences.
There definitely could have been better poets and poems selected, but I think Collin’s right: it’s to to be hard to customize something that is meant to inspire millions worldwide.
That said, good on Obama for including poetry. It may not satisfy everyone (however wonderful the quartet sounded beforehand, and they were simply breathtaking!), but the presence of poetry does satisfy many of us who need a president who places value in language as well as in deed.