Praise Song for the Day

A Poem for Barack Obama's 
Presidential Inauguration
January 20, 2009
(Excerpts)

Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other's
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
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 pre-empt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light.

Elizabeth Alexander, Praise Song for the Day, (Graywolf Press, 2009)