Elizabeth Alexander: Obama's Pick For Inaugural Poet

Barack Obama has chosen Elizabeth Alexander to read a poem at his inauguration. A well-regarded poet and professor at Yale, Alexander is also a friend of the Obama family. She will be just the fourth "inaugural" poet, joining Robert Frost, who read "The Gift Outright" at Kennedy's inauguration, Maya Angelou, who read "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's first inauguration, and Miller Williams who read "Of History and Hope" at Clinton's second.

There will, no doubt, be some talk about Obama passing on more prominent poets to select a friend, but in many ways, the choice makes sense. Alexander is something of a reflection of Obama: she is of his generation; she has written on many of his themes; and it's clear from her poetry that she, too, is an intellectual. The Times Book Review described her work as "intellectual magic." As far as I know, she has not written a poem on arugula.

Alexander will reportedly take on the daunting task of composing a poem for the occasion. To get an idea of how difficult it can be for a poet to write a public, occasional poem, you need only look at how British laureates--obligated to write such poems for the royal family--tend to flounder at the task despite being great poets in their own right. If you're brave (or just sadistic), take a look at the poem current laureate Andrew Motion wrote for Prince William's 21st birthday.

Alexander already has her doubters. George Packer, who is against the idea of a poem being written for and read at the inauguration at all--except, conceivably, by Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott--wrote in the New Yorker:

Obama's Inauguration needs no heightening. It'll be its own history, its own poetry.

Playing up the nepotism angle, Packer goes on to compare Alexander's qualifications with Carolyn Kennedy's qualifications for Senate. He fails to mention that her last book came within a breath of winning the Pulitzer Prize.

Despite the pressure, Alexander told NPR that while she feels challenged, she does not feel scared.

"In that moment, really I am the vessel for the poem," she says. "It's not about the poet at that moment, it's about the poem. So the pressure -- the challenge -- is to write a poem that can serve ... all of those expectant, gathered millions and to let the poem be what calms my nerves when I am up there. To let myself remember that I am there to deliver these words and these words have been commissioned to deliver a very, very amazing moment."

Packer may be right that the audience on the mall will be thinking of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and that any poet not named Wolcott, in comparison, will fall flat. Or maybe the (true) story will get out that Alexander's parents brought her--when she was just one year old--down to the mall to hear Dr. King deliver his speech. Maybe the audience will recognize that Alexander and Obama both must owe some part of their own flourishing--as many of us do--to that great moment of cultural poetry, such that even if the poem doesn't match the power of great political oratory, the symbolism will. Regardless, I look forward to her giving it a whirl.

Graywolf Press, which publishes Alexander's work, will print a chapbook featuring the poem. And you can read Alexander's poems (or listen to her read them) on her website here.

Comments

[bubbuh]

Part Two
_____________________


Many others have told, and not told, this tale.
The one time Great-Uncle Paul brought his wife to New York
he asked his siblings not to bring their spouses,
and that is where the story ends: ivory siblings who would not
see their brother without their tell-tale spouses.
What a strange thing is "race," and family, stranger still.
Here a poem tells a story, a story about race.
_________________________________________________________________

PS She knows how to dance the private dance, oh, so publicly. She does it better than the semi-regular thinker, George Packer, and his intlelligent friends who can't recoginze the poetry of Jean Shepherd, Bob Dylan or Maya Angelou, just as for instances, because they did not see those names listed in "The Universal Book of PC Poetry."

With Lundberg, but, more so, I look forward to whirling with her on this most auspicious day. Join us.

[bubbuh]

Part One
_________

Race
by
Elizabeth Alexander

Sometimes I think about Great-Uncle Paul who left Tuskeegee,
Alabama to become a forester in Oregon and in so doing
became fundamentally white for the rest of his life, except
when he travelled without his white wife to visit his siblings "
now in New York, now in Harlem, USA " just as pale-skinned,
as straight-haired, as blue-eyed as Paul, and black. Paul never told anyone
he was white, he just didn"t say that he was black, and who could imagine,
an Oregon forester in 1930 as anything other than white?
The siblings in Harlem each morning ensured
no one confused them for anything other than what they were, black.
They were black! Brown-skinned spouses reduced confusion.
Many others have told, and not told, this tale.
When Paul came East alone he was as they were, their brother.

The poet invents heroic moments where the pale black ancestor stands up
on behalf of the race. The poet imagines Great-Uncle Paul
in cool, sagey groves counting rings in redwood trunks,
imagines pencil markings in a ledger book, classifications,
imagines a sidelong look from an ivory spouse who is learning
her husband"s caesuras. She can see silent spaces
but not what they signify, graphite markings in a forester"s code.

[kotipup]

I wish I could write such gorgeous poetry. I truly admire Alexander and can't wait to hear her contribution to the inauguration.

[UberReaganite]

I'm a better candidate than her for innagural poet and I can prove it....

Lead Us Mr. President

Will you lead us Mr. President, will you lead us to the light?
We've been stumbling in the darkness leaning way too far to the right
Our nation needs direction and its time we had a change
Because the past eight years have left us feeling dirty, abused and strange

Will you lead us Mr. President, will you show us all the way?
Will you resolve some real issues and allow marriage for the gays?
Will you separate the church and state the way it needs to be?
Or will you spend the next four years preaching as you rob our dignity?

Will you make our nation innovative, will you help us to invent?
Or will you lead us all into the center ring of your giant circus tent?
Will you set your own self-interest aside to do what our nation needs to have done?
Or will you knuckle under once again to lobbyists, corporations and bumbs?

You have an opportunity now to set this nation right
To move us into a future with prosperity in sight
You have some hard decisions to make and we are with you, "break a leg"
But if you wanna make that diversity omlette Barak¦ you gotta break some GD eggs

[carlgt1]

Rick Warren can do a poem:

Roses are red,
wedding's for straights,
neocon Christians
just hate hate hate!

[ThatOne4Me]

lol

[johnscarton]

"Playing up the nepotism angle, Packer goes on to compare Alexander's qualifications with Carolyn Kennedy's qualifications for Senate. He fails to mention that her last book came within a breath of winning the Pulitzer Prize."

So because Alexander "came within a breath" (how, exactly, was that measurement ascertained?) of winning a Pulitzer (which is another way of saying she didn't win) Packer shouldn't have an opinion on the matter?

Following that logic (that somehow we can create a meritocratic hierarchy of poets based on the degree to which they came close to winning the Pulitzer (and no other prize, sorry, Walt Whitman recipients!)) shouldn't we actually be disappointed by the selection of Alexander in lieu of say, Ashbery, who in the same year won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award? (though, again, apparently only the Pulitzer part of that counts, though Ashbery actually did win it) Aren't we, by Lundberg's calculations, presented with an obviously inferior poet on inauguration day?

Thanks for the clarification, huffpo!

[FanofPaine]

I disagree. I would think that a person who is close to someone would know more about that person and give a better representation of that person. Also, no offense to Ashbery but the man is not only from a different generation than Obama, but obviously does not know how it feels to be an African American in such an historic moment.

It's perfectly fine for Packer to have an opinion on the choice, but I'm afraid he is wrong. Also, people of color poets (not named Nikki Giovanni or Maya Angelou) desperately need all the exposure they can get. That Elizabeth is a friend of Obama's just makes it more fitting. I do not think Alexander's poetry inferior to Ashbery's just different in tone and subject matter.

[shedances]

I confess, I was not familiar with this particular Yale poet until the announcement was made recently. But after listening to her on NPR, I could see exactly why the president-elect would choose Ms. Alexander; and I wish her well on that special day!

[herrick]

To those who would criticize President-elect Obama's choice of his longtime friend as inaugural poet, she is a qualified, published poet and she knows him. This will be a memorable day for him. Think about it. If you were in his shoes, wouldn't you want to have your friends around you? She will be fine. She will not embarrass him or our country. Will she be a fine as Robert Frost for JFK? We won't know until the day comes. And besides, does she need to be?

Relax. It's poetry. Just listen.

[Jireh]

I agree wholeheartedly!!!!!

[Kevbo68]

I'd prefer to have heard Calvin Trillin read his work.

[sayinisayu]

I hope to be around when you can make that decision

[rebelzz]

Emancipation

Corncob constellation,
oyster shell, drawstring pouch, dry bones.

Gris gris in the rafters.
Hoodoo in the sleeping nook.
Mojo in Linda Brent"s crawlspace.

Nineteenth century corncob cosmogram
set on the dirt floor, beneath the slant roof,
left intact the afternoon
that someone came and told those slaves

"We"re free."

I think that could be by Obama chose her.

[isis]

Wonderful!

[erykah]

I know this family and just sent Elizabeth's mother a hearty congratulations. Elizabeth is a well accomplished poet widely recognized in her field and well respected. This is a wonderful pick. The folks who have a problem with it are stupid. And what the hell does the Caroline Kennedy issue have to do with Alexander. Oh please, give it a break. You go Elizabeth.

[heyoka]

When Kennedy had Frost recite a poem he introduced Frost himself, saying: "And I asked Mr. Frost to be here today for a reason . . . because power by its nature corrupts, . . . but poetry cleanses." The copy of the poem that Frost was going to read then blew away, so he recited a different poem from memory.

[bubbuh]

Both poems from Kennedy's inauguration: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/inauguration/frost_poem.html One is satiric and the shorter one, a conundrum. Both as it happens were well fit to the day. As is 'most always true with poetry these days, I liked the shorter best.

[Margo Arrowsmith]

Oh, good grief, what better place to put a good friend. The poet isn't going to solve the country's problems, but rather make a ceremony that is meaningful to the man for whom the ceremony is meant. He created a great cabinet with top notch people, let him have a friend write and read a poem.

[hawkseye]

Yes, and Warren is not going to set the national agenda.

[ChangeIsUponUs]

I have already written a poem that's fitting for this inauguration. It's called "We Must Change"

Please go to youtube and search for "thinkverybig" and you'll see all of my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM58nqX1ehE

Here are the words! http://www.thinkverybig.com/We%20Must%20Change.htm

"Makes Me Wanna Cry" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD0iAQN7VPY

[woodcut]

....what rhymes with "marriage"?
Carriage.... "cabbage" if you're daring. ;-)

[GrandmaSue]

While we waited anxiously
From the last eight years of scare age
The future came with soothing change
hmm hm hmm hm hm hm