Official DU Inauguration Poem Thread

[Generic Other]

January 20, 2009

Standing in the door of the office--
on one side a newly emptied desk,
on the other a stack of boxes.
One man looks in as another walks out.
He sees his own baggage waiting
to be unpacked, along with a pile
of boxes postmarked “No Return.”
Gut wrenchingly heavy boxes
full of lies and veiled threats--
black holes swallowing the light.

Blood soaked cardboard,
ragged bits of bone and cartilage,
the residue of dollars wrapped
in oil rags. Tarnished medals in a box:
1000 photographs to capture the
dull ache of memories weighing
the body down, all piled precariously
hunched over and numb. The weight
of our pain threatens to burn
right through the floor and keep
on burning for 100 years.

Ashes of buildings settled into boxes,
5000 poppies packed in combat boots
with heels worn down by the long march
home. A box of broken laws and stolen
dreams, the compressed weight of
collective guilt all waiting to be loaded
into moving vans and taken to
the landfill, the battlefield, the cemetery.

The unpacked boxes are new and light.
One never moves in with half the stuff
you will eventually have to pack up
and carry out when the lease is up,
the eviction notice posted, the damage
left behind for the landlord to clean up.

[nofurylike]

1. ...

[B o d i]

2. Inauguration Day: Hooray, Hooray!

by Calvin Trillin

Inauguration is the day
The nation's hopes go on display —
When through one man we all convey
Our dream that things will go our way.
His resume we can't gainsay.
In politics, we know, his play
Is worthy of the NBA.
He proved that in the recent fray,
Though he had help from Tina Fey.
And now this solemn matinee
Awards the winner's bright bouquet.

First, Pastor Warren's going to pray
For everyone who isn't gay.
Obama then will stand and say,
"I take this oath that I'll obey
The statutes of the U. S. A."
In his address, he might portray
The dragons he intends to slay:
How Wall Street's sky will turn from gray
To blue as blues are chased away,
How workers will collect good pay
For turning out a Chevrolet,
How in Iraq we'll end our stay
With shortest possible delay,
How pay-to-play will be passe
So K Street suits will not hold sway.
Yes, how we'll triumph, come what may:
We'll rise up like a good souffle
'Til life's just like a cabaret.

Obamacans will shout hooray
And toast their man with Chardonnay
As commentators all make hay
Comparing him to JFK.
The Beltway types, those still blase,
Might think that soon, with some dismay,
We'll wonder if his feet are clay.
But that's all for another day.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99163049

[Goblinmonger]

3. an origianal haiku

goodbye half-wit son
though you tried for tyranny
habeas is back