Elizabeth Alexander's Inauguration Poem

Seconds after the inauguration reading there were responses to it online. The poetry community is talking; it's poetry's happy hour in the United States. While I can offer not critique or feedback on the peformance yet, I can already see a things I line in the transcript I have in front of me. First, the poem is entitled "Praise Song for the Day".... Surely, America has reason to sing and to praise for this historic moment. I like the connection with the role of poetry as it's traditionally known in my African (and Obama's)heritage-- praise of leaders and ancestry: "Sing the names of the dead who brought us here/who laid the train tracks/raised the bridges, picked the cotton & the lettuce."

Elizabeth Alexander is the fourth poet in the history of the United States to read at an inauguration of a president. This event helps not only her career as a poet but also the appreciation of poetry as an artform.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sorry Manu, this poem makes everyone suspicious of poetry, because it was a poor poem delivered badly. Maya Angelou, now that was something. Chakanaka chakanaka mukaka haurungwi. That poem was an embaarssment to the world of poetry.

E
January 26, 2009 at 1:54 PM
Emmanuel Sigauke said…
Now that's a harsh critique, but I see your point. The delivery especially, as one could tell through the audience's body language, etc, was not effective, but the poem on paper has qualities that add up to a simple, but distinct poem.
January 26, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FREEDOM, a poem on South Africa by Afzal Moolla

Freedom The shackles have been cast off. Chains broken. People once squashed, under the jackboot of Apartheid, are free. Free at last! Freedom came on the 27th day in that April, 1994. Freedom from prejudice. From institutionalised racism. From being relegated to second-class citizenship. Freedom came and we danced. We cried. We ululated as we elected our revered Mandela. President Nelson Mandela. Our very own beloved 'Madiba'. Black and white and brown and those in-between, All hues of this rainbow nation, rejoiced as we breathed in the air of freedom and democracy. Today we pause. We remember. We salute. The brave ones whose sacrifices made this day possible, on that 27th day of April, 18 years ago. Today we dance. We sing. We ululate. We cry. Tears of joy and tears of loss. Of remembrance and of forgiveness. Of reconciliation and of memories. Today we pause. We acknowledge the tasks ahead. The hungry. The naked. The destitut...
Read more

Importance of African Languages in African Literature

Once in a while, I check  the search engines terms that are driving the most traffic to my blog, Wealth of Ideas, and the searches are often revealing of what kinds of information people are looking for  at any time. Today, of the several interesting ones,  "the importance of African languages in African literature" stood out. It's a topic I too am passionate about. I have written about it before in a post entitled " Language in African Literature ", but even this doesn't begin to cover the most important facts about the issue. Perhaps one day I will write treatise on the topic of language in African literature, and mini posts like this are my way of mapping a project description. But now let's go to some serious stuff on African languages in African Literature. Let me start by saying that I am annoyed by glossaries. Their intent seems to be to appeal to a foreign audience, or, most importantly, to any speakers for whom the glossaried language is for...
Read more

Abuja Writers' Forum Call for Submissions

Wordsbody has announced the following call for submissions: CAVALCADE literary journal, devoted to publishing original stories, poems,one-act plays, reviews, critical essays and art from an African perspective,will debut in October 2008 with a special edition. The tri-annual journal, a project of the Abuja Writers' Forum (AWF), is now seeking submissions for the second and third editions. Deadline: October 30, 2008 See more details here: Contribute to Cavalcade.
Read more