The Inaugural Poem 2009

Posted by Linda Sue Grimes Mar 6, 2009

The event was much hyped; weeks before the name was announced, a buzz went up on the Web trying to predict on whom would be bestowed the honor of performing the inaugural poem at the most important inauguration of all time. Not since Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1997 had a poet read at the event.

Elizabeth Alexander, after being chosen by then President-Elect Obama, joined the ranks of the few: Robert Frost read at John F. Kennedy’s swearing in; Maya Angelou read at Clinton’s first inauguration, and Miller Williams at Clinton’s second. Thus, Alexander is only the fourth poet to serve as Inaugural Poet.

One might expect the poem offered to celebrate the first inauguration of an American of African descent to be remarkable, memorable, and profound. While Elizabeth Alexander’s poem is pleasant, it offers no true insight into the human condition. It primarily features a catalogue of ordinary daily possibilities that point nowhere beyond themselves.

The piece sounds prosaic, and on the page appears as lines broken to look like a poem. This form is typical for Alexander; most of her poems read like prose masquerading as poetry. It is sad that a truly substantive work of poetry did not grace this important event.

For an analysis of the poem, please visit Alexander's “Praise Song for the Day”.