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Utopian Turtletop. Monsieur Croche's Bête Noire. Contact: turtletop [at] hotmail [dot] com

Monday, January 19, 2009

INAUGURAL POEM


Ms. Reeves of Motown, with a song by Misters Stevenson, Gaye, and Hunter, will lay the scene.

calling out around the world!

are you ready? are you ready? are you ready?

yes we’re ready!

are you ready?

yes we’re ready!

are you ready for a brand new,
a brand new,
a brand new day, a brand new pair of rollerskates, a brand new key, a brand new BEAT, a brand new boombox, a brand new sense of what can be brand new, a brand new door to unscrew from the jamb Mr. Whitman, a brand new wall to tear down Mr. Reagan, a brand new wall to blow down Mr. Big Bad Wolf, Mr. Joshua,

a brand new wall to blow down Mr. Joshua, a brand new wall to blow down,

a brand new sense of possibility that, yes we can, Mr. Hughes, let America be America again,

though America’s never been America, Mr. Hughes is right, America’s never been the America of its own ideal, its most perfect union, promoting the general welfare, insuring domestic tranquility, because today, today, today

let there be no domestic tranquility,

today let there be joy

because even though

America still won’t be the America of our ideal, it won’t be the most perfect union, when we have blown down the wall that has said, for 232 years, that the color of the house describes the color of its inhabitant in chief, when we have blown down the wall that says White white white white White House,

and made it the house of all the people, the people’s house, made for you and me,

when we the people have done this,

well, when we did this, when we cast the ballots, and the ballot counters counted, and we knew the results, there was dancing in the streets -- calling out around the world! -- dancing in Chicago, up in New York City, down in New Orleans, Philadelphia P. A., Baltimore and DC now, don’t forget the Motor City,

and today, today there are hundreds of thousands of people gathered in DC, to witness the inauguration of this brand new beat, this brand new day, this brand new rollerskate & key,

and yes, when we the people have done this,

our union IS more perfect than it had been before, and, Mr. Guthrie, all around us a voice is, yes it is, yes it is chanting, this land WAS made for you and me, and, Dr. King, from every mountainside, from the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts, above her fruited plain, from the wheatfields rolling, to the oceans white with foam, we WILL let freedom ring,

freedom is ringing and voices are chanting, a joyful noisy mystic chorus of freedom and possession, Let America Be America --

and oh, we know, we know, there’s a long way to go,
we still got a long way to go,
and it’s been a long strange trip, with miles to go and strangers yet to meet, miles and miles to go, a long way to go, and we’re going, we’re on our way, we’ll make mistakes, our Mr. Joshua in the White House of all the people House the people’s House, our Mr. Joshua will make mistakes, and you’ll disagree with this and I’ll disagree with that and they’ll disagree with the other, she’ll feel betrayed by this & he’ll feel sick about another, and the cacophony of competing interests and beliefs won’t go away, union does not mean unanimity, Letting America Be America doesn’t mean, it doesn’t mean that everybody agrees,

but Dr. King’s hearing the ringing of the freedom mountain bells,
and Mr. Guthrie’s hearing the chanting of the diamond desert,
this land was made for you and me -- freedom -- this land was made for you and me -- freedom --

for Dr. King and Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Hughes and for us all, America is not only a country, it’s ideally an idea that’s open to anybody yearning to breathe free, and we’re a long way from that, we’re a long way from allowing Lady Liberty to light the beacon for all of the poor, all of the tired, all of the homeless and huddled masses, even on our own shores, much less around the world, but that is our charge, so says Dr. King, so says Mr. Guthrie, so says Ms. Lazarus, so says Mr. Hughes, so says Lady Liberty, so says Mr. Whitman, so says Ms. Reeves and Misters Stevenson, Gaye, and Hunter, and today we ARE calling out around the world,

we’re calling out around the world,

and we are ready



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