We walk into that which we cannot yet see

Ironically enough, I was able to watch the Inauguration of our 44th President, our first African American President, in my American Education History class. How amazing it was to sit and watch history itself be made. I will admit; I had not been an Obama supporter before. Now, listening and reading this man’s speech, I truly believe that our new President is going to create a better America for all. But we are doing it all together, and that is something that I respect President Obama greatly for.
Putting the texts of both Obama’s speech and Alexander’s poem next to each other, I was able to see how both complimented the other, and showed the transformations of America that seem to be down the road for us all. I had read the poem before listening to it, and I think that worked out for the better. I seemed to understand and get more out of such a beautiful piece of work. Listening to it, however, seemed rough like a work in the process. I guess that is just a parallel in how “we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America” (Obama).
Looking at the use of words in Alexander’s poem, I noticed that she used lots of consonant enhanced words, for lack of a better term. She annunciated strongly the ending syllables when speaking the poem, and if you read it, it’s interesting to look at the words next to one another. Speak, bramble, stitch, whispered, mark; these are just some of the examples that made my hair stand on end listening and reading the poem.
I especially liked the repetitions Alexander used at the end of the poem. It was like a summarization of bringing people together. “Praising song” for all those that struggled for us and for everything we have was like what Obama was emphasizing during his speech. Both were just reminders that we need to be thankful for all that we have here, for many have worked hard so we can get here. I think my favorite part was the stanza about love. It is showing us that we can stand together and rebuild our country, even when we’re facing the storm. What if the mightiest word is love?