Here it is the day after. The sun came up, coffee maker still works, on the radio the news is mostly yesterday’s new beginning and by my calendar, we are over 300 days, more than 400,000 fatalities into pandemic. I did not watch the inauguration yesterday, I think my vote was sufficient, my attendance unnecessary. America’s heralded, peaceful transition of power stumbled in the home stretch and the potholes I”m sad to say, they are yet to be repaired. The images of helmeted invaders with flack jackets, draped in partisan banners and Confederate flags, searching for hostages; it left me both angry and aghast. As a nation we have always suffered a dark, sinister underbelly but to see it unfolding, brazen in the light of day, through security cameras and at gunpoint; I didn’t think it possible. Still, it’s a new day. I woke from a sound sleep in the wee hours. When that happens I get up, do something that requires focus and energy.
Scrolling back through yesterday’s news I watched the video of Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration poem, ‘The Hills We Climb’. In five and a half minutes she recited what would take me half an hour to process and digest. I loved the youthful confidence and high expectation that marked her poem. Even more, I hung on its relentless pace and remarkable word selections, coming in calibrated combinations that spoke directly to a moral responsibility, one that has been long absent. That’s how truly good poetry works. A great poem is not something you experience like the filling of a cup. At best, it requires an active ear, one that works in earnest at making meaning. The way it works is like a fresh cut flower arrangement, it measures the florist as surely as it does the flowers.
She began with a powerful metaphor; “When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?” A few lines later she adds, “ . . . W’ve braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.” I couldn’t keep up so I had to re-begin again. Who other than an uncompromising, young, black woman could cut so deep, so clean? With unmistakable intent she spoke of peaceful resolution, “We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.” Listening to her was uplifting while reading the text is both enlightening and empowering. A few short minutes later she comes full circle as she must. “When day comes we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are brave enough too be it.”It was still pre-dawn when I closed my eyes again.
Over coffee I felt better about due process, the rule of law and a greater good than I have in several years. If you’ve listened to the poem, go back and read the text. The read is as rewarding as the listen. You can reflect on the efficient elegance of her language and the power of her words. To be expected, there is some hyperbole. That is youth’s way of telling us, “You’ve done your best but there is more to do, we can do it, better.”
I understand that the liar will die and disappear long before the lie is put to rest. Most people, I believe, at some time they accept ideas and embrace leaders who really make us feel good. But they fail the test of truth and time. Then it becomes a hot rock you can’t let go fast enough. Yet those who lack the will or the means, they neither question nor challenge the feel-good, ego-stroking propaganda. They are easy prey for demagogues. If you don’t treat incoming criticism with respect and open-ended examination then you default to blind faith, for which there is no defense.
Thank you Amanda Gorman.
Scrolling back through yesterday’s news I watched the video of Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration poem, ‘The Hills We Climb’. In five and a half minutes she recited what would take me half an hour to process and digest. I loved the youthful confidence and high expectation that marked her poem. Even more, I hung on its relentless pace and remarkable word selections, coming in calibrated combinations that spoke directly to a moral responsibility, one that has been long absent. That’s how truly good poetry works. A great poem is not something you experience like the filling of a cup. At best, it requires an active ear, one that works in earnest at making meaning. The way it works is like a fresh cut flower arrangement, it measures the florist as surely as it does the flowers.
She began with a powerful metaphor; “When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?” A few lines later she adds, “ . . . W’ve braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.” I couldn’t keep up so I had to re-begin again. Who other than an uncompromising, young, black woman could cut so deep, so clean? With unmistakable intent she spoke of peaceful resolution, “We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.” Listening to her was uplifting while reading the text is both enlightening and empowering. A few short minutes later she comes full circle as she must. “When day comes we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are brave enough too be it.”It was still pre-dawn when I closed my eyes again.
Over coffee I felt better about due process, the rule of law and a greater good than I have in several years. If you’ve listened to the poem, go back and read the text. The read is as rewarding as the listen. You can reflect on the efficient elegance of her language and the power of her words. To be expected, there is some hyperbole. That is youth’s way of telling us, “You’ve done your best but there is more to do, we can do it, better.”
I understand that the liar will die and disappear long before the lie is put to rest. Most people, I believe, at some time they accept ideas and embrace leaders who really make us feel good. But they fail the test of truth and time. Then it becomes a hot rock you can’t let go fast enough. Yet those who lack the will or the means, they neither question nor challenge the feel-good, ego-stroking propaganda. They are easy prey for demagogues. If you don’t treat incoming criticism with respect and open-ended examination then you default to blind faith, for which there is no defense.
Thank you Amanda Gorman.
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