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Last night, near the end of the two-hour inaugural celebration activities that were streamed and broadcast on TV networks, Tom Hanks (the MC for the event) introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda to recite a passage from one of Seamus Heaney’s poems that is one of Joe Biden;s favorite poems. It was the poetic highlight of the day for me — in what was surprisingly a very poetic day.
Here it is (Ignore the poor quality and strange table of medicine bottles, etc. in the foreground — it’s all I could find). If you haven’t seen it, be sure to see it through to the end.
(And
Here is Biden reciting the passage by himself and used in one of his campaign commercials.)
I think Mark's bird's eye view characterized the poem and the occasion best. Sam and Susan, too, put the poem, the poet and the occasion in perspective.Amanda Goram shows bright promise. Time will tell.
Mark, as you well know, for lack of any semblance of royalty here in the States, the presidency/first family is our disposable equivalent of that. it's our version of a crowning/coronation. It generally turns me off because it is covered/presented like a major sporting event. But yesterday's inaugural was like a long-awaited (and nearly stolen) springtime for us who have endured and overcome the withering winter storm that was the Trump administration. It was a surprise, though, to feel a tangible lifting of the heaviness of the past four years. It really caught me by surprise.
Whoever was responsible/credited with the production/decision-making/ orchestration of the inaugural events of the day (and night ) deserve the highest praise. All the others were actors in the performance who played their roles beautifully. But it was the script they developed and produced (along with the backstory we all lived through) that made it unique among presidential inaugurations. It caught me by surprise. It was like getting a gift when you least expect one.
—And no Balls! No Balls! But it
was a ball to watch events unfold. As I said, I usually don’t pay much attention to ceremonial events like this. I don’t like parades or fireworks either. But yesterday was different. It hit the spot where others always miss, imo.
It is back to reality today. Back to figuring out how the hell we rhyme hope with history. Ha!
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