Poem: Barack

No, I am not naive. I realize it takes more than a speech. I think Obama is much more than simply words. He is no less experienced than a former first lady. Nor is he less experienced than someone who has served in the Senate for years and is wrong on Iraq and is a lose cannon on Iran. Abraham Lincoln had less "experience" than Obama. So did Teddy Roosevelt. Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and Richard Nixon; they had loads of experience. Give me the hope and the ability to affect people. Give me someone who will talk to those on the other side and in other places. Give me fresh ideas. And, yes, give me Barack Hussein Obama, as if a middle name mattered in making him somehow a threat. The time is now, and I see new promise.


Barack

Pretenders speak in forced cliche
Find some words to flip away
Don’t believe that hope exists
Doubts can grow where fears persist

A man steps forth to voice a dream
Change can come with quite the scene
Promise made to reach new height
U.S.A. restored to light

“Yes we can,” the means are laid
Cynics cry and games get played
Tired calls to heed the past
Rise above; “We’re free at last”

Obama brings fresh inspiration
The road can climb new elevations
Vision forms a righteous plan
Conviction builds around the man

Time will tell if we seize the day
A better path, a different way
The “New Frontier” might rise again
Let’s move ahead, not where we’ve been

Beyond today lies shining dawn
With faith and strength a brightening morn
Alarms ring out ‘pon ticking clock
The dye’s been cast; we need Barack

Copyright SGW 2008

Footnotes:
1. “Yes we can:” I use this phrase based on the Obama speech and the will.i.am song. Some claim that Cesar Chavez first used this in 1972.
2. “We’re free at last:” Obviously, this comes from Martin Luther King. My intentions are not to say that Obama is black, so let’s vote for him. Instead, I suggest that new ways, inclusive and of promise, can free us of our divisive and partisan ways. It is, though, a positive that people have a great candidate who is a minority, and appear able to vote for him.
3. “New Frontier:” This refers to the JFK message of the 1960 campaign for the presidency. His was a “New Frontier.” I view Obama’s ideals as being Kennedyesque, and, therefore, a possible second “New Frontier.”