Friday, January 16, 2009

Back In The Limelight

The Presidential Inauguration is just a few days away. Keep your eyes and ears open for a rarity: The Inauguration Poet.

There has only been 3 poets who have had the honor of reading at the swearing-in ceremony. First, there was Robert Frost (for JFK in 1961), then Maya Angelou (for Bill Clinton in 1993) and Miller Williams (for Bill Clinton in 1997). And now you can add Elizabeth Alexander to that list.

A Yale professor and friend of the Obamas, she has said that "writing an occasional poem has to attend to the moment itself, but what you hope for, as an artist, is to create something that has integrity and life that goes beyond the moment" (from The New York Times). I can't wait to hear what she comes up with! And she has promised to be brief--that's my kind of poem!

Ars Poetica #100: I Believe by Elizabeth Alexander

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16 comments:

  1. I thought maybe you were going to announce that you were the Inauguration Poet!

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  2. Very nice!!! I love Poetry Friday!!

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  3. I love it! I really like her definition. Can't wait til Tuesday!

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  4. Great poem! You have received an award. Go to my blog and check it out! Thank you!!

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  5. Cool! I will be interested to hear what she says!

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  6. `wow, quite the scholar and liz is quite the poet...it sounds like big o is going to get off to a real good start to me

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  7. oooooooo, nice stuff! Can't wait to watch on Tuesday.

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  8. Like my singing, my poetry stinks! lol. Two things I suck at most in life.

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  9. Thanks to you I'll be on the lookout for her and paying attention to her poem!

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  10. I left you an award on my blog. Go check it out!

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  11. It was a a very good poem, didn't you think?

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Thanks for commenting!