I was at work for most of today and only saw one part of Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony in full, and that was the poem, “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman. One overwhelming thought springs to mind, that my own writing is filth. What a wonderful thing she gave us.
Here is a 22 year old star of language encapsulating, hope, truth, emotion, insight, wisdom… I could go on. Read her work. Savor her passion. And then read it again, because you always find more to savor in the second sip of a sublime wine.
I have so many thoughts on her most glorious piece. I share a mere fraction of them below. I do not need your reaction to my piece – I’m no poetry expert. I only know the way I reacted to it, and I only plead that you absorb her art yourself, and embrace the truth of your own reaction, whatever that may be, because the truth of you is a beautiful thing.
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
Some things are universal, visceral. Certain primal experiences affect our reactive lizard brain, like light and dark, monsters and angels, certain timeless trades from hunters and farmers to merchants and whores. In Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” I felt the same thing from the very beginning of the song with the feeling of being trapped: “There must be some kind of way outta here, Said the joker to the thief, There’s too much confusion… Business men they drink my wine, Plowmen dig my earth…” As soon as I heard Amanda’s opening I knew, not just intellectually but in my very gut, that this is a piece for anyone and everyone, if only they dare open themselves to it.
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
Don’t you just want to read this out loud! The alliteration of four spacious Ps followed the concatenation of six successive K sounds, like a machine gun: polished, pristine perfect and purpose, flows into country, committed, cultures, colors, characters and conditions. Her art is art to be lived, and she seems to crave you breathe your own life into it.
“Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid“
Amanda references the vine and the fig, but have you ever seen a fig tree leafless? Its naked, bone grey branches have a majesty that bears the promise of the delicious, precious, delicate fruit yet to come.
In the very next lines Amanda taps into something, which for me defines leadership.
“And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promise to glade“
Leaders are builders. Great nation are builders. Destroying stuff is easy – you’re working with universe when you break things up because the universe is always tending towards entropy. Creating order and structure feels like an act of defiance against the universe’s natural tendency, a hopeless endeavor. Leaders and builders are Canute, showing they cannot hold back the tide… or maybe they can. Don’t you want the underdog to succeed, against all the odds!
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
I heard mercy with might and immediately thought of Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy, which can best be summed up as, ‘speak softly, but carry a big stick.’ Actions need to have consequences else behaviors won’t change. The administration of the 45th president believed this to be true when they displayed their reaction to China, and Iran, whether or not you agree or disagree with the tactics they employed. However consequences seemed less in evidence with North Korea, or when his own party were asked to hold the president to account. Accountability and consistency must go hand in hand. If we try accountability without consistency when raising our children we are failing them. We hold such guard rails because we love them.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it
We are all light. Quantum theory and wave-particle duality posits that waves are stuff, and stuff is waves. Our bodies are made of the stuff of stars. If you are truly star matter, and you are, the only thing that can get in your own way is you. So be!
