Monday, January 21, 2013

'One Today'

'One Today': Richard Blanco Poem Read at Barack Obama Inauguration

No one dislikes a critic more than me. I just wrote about my dislike of critics in my private Penzu diary yesterday (and may post part of that here), but still, I'm just not sure what I think of this poem for such a monumental moment. The poet, that's another matter: youngest poet to recite at a Presidential inauguration, first Hispanic and first gay. GREAT! It's just that this poem read more like an essay, IMHO.

I kept thinking why not Natalie Goldberg? Although, she might have also read something with lines that struck an equally odd note. Robert Frost was the first poet to be included in an inaugural event (at JFK's) and Bill Clinton included Maya Angelou. Kudos to Prez O for including a poet and I did love this section;

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes tired from work: some days guessing at the weather of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother who knew how to give, or forgiving a father who couldn't give what you wanted.
As a writer, it's hard not to analyze another's work, but that does mean judging -- my nemesis, my internal enemy, the Klesha that I grapple with constantly. And, Blanco did say Namaste! so will I... NAH-mÉ™-stay (I see you in myself and honor both of us) and I do hope we are One today... at least, for this day. One Today.

BTW: this post is not intended to degrade anyone's theories, ideas, beliefs, or art.

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