Inaugural Poetry

Dear Friends in Christ -

One thing I remember clearly from President Clinton's inauguration: Maya Angelou's poem. I remember her sonorous voice reading it on that day, and her voice has echoed in my ears as I've read it many times since. Here are the closing stanzas of her powerful poem:

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me, the
Rock, the River, the Tree, your country.

No less to Midas than the mendicant.

No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.

I didn't think that Elizabeth Alexander's poem yesterday reached as high a literary mark as Angelou's. But being myself a writer of words given for a day, I know that you write what you are given - and that the role of the listener is to humbly receive the gift. Following are the words of Alexander's poem which linger in my spirit today. May they bless your day, too.
Faithfully,
Janet+

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.