November 5, 2008
Patriotic
…listen
…about the musicYes, we did.
After eight painful and shameful years living in a nation held hostage by greed and lies, a lot of us experienced one gigantic, collective exhale last night. We watched as the U.S. pendulum began a swing back toward sanity, in an historic election many of us had been afraid to believe wouldn’t be stolen in its final hours.
I was in tears at several moments during the evening. First, when CNN declared that Barack Obama was President Elect. Capital letters emblazoned across the TV screen were the indication to my psyche that yes, this was real. I wept. And I wept again when I saw the stunningly huge, entranced crowd standing in Chicago, as I listened intently to this inspiring man’s moving speech.
Mr. Obama will probably not be able to solve all the problems this nation faces, but I am extremely grateful that he’s willing to sacrifice so much to try. I have no doubt that there will be a significant improvement not only in the direction of the U.S. government, but in the morale of its citizens who have been promised a President who will actually listen to them. And I can only guess that we’ve suddenly gained a few brownie points overseas, as the world watches us attempt to redeem ourselves.
The cargo containers pictured above struck me as an abstract flag, woven of commerce and transportation and draped across the Seattle shoreline. I took it coming back from a trip last month, and it seems appropriate today.
As I type this to you at 3:30 Wednesday morning, what began as the soothing sound of moderate rain has quickly ramped up to quite a riot of sonic pounding on my metal roof. Curious, I opened the door in my studio and was astonished to witness a remarkable hail storm of ice pellets the size of frozen peas. Millions of them, pouring down, bouncing, landing, joyously, insistently, looking as though someone made a middle of the night gravel delivery atop the grass. It’s not particularly cold; just 42 degrees. Barefoot, I stepped outside and delighted in standing there with the hail pouring down on me. Pummeling me, in fact. A cheap thrill. I even wondered if my car might get dented. I cupped my hands and collected these rounded icy gems, rolling them over my fingers. Wonderful. Now back at my desk, miniature snowballs slowly melt on my hair.
Even the atmosphere is celebrating the outcome of the election. Hail to the new chief! Hail to the change in America!
Glenn Buttkus said,
November 5, 2008 @ 8:22 am
I, too am ecstatic, and since you have been so gracious with allowing me to post my poetry here, I want to share some feelings I had this morning as well.
America, America!!
At 04:00am, PST, it became official.
I turned on CNN and it was announced in bold print:
BARACK OBAMA IS OUR NEW PRESIDENT
OF THESE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!
Praise God,
praise Jesus,
praise the intellect and good instincts of the people,
the same people who have suffered for eight years
under the auspices of the Great Oil Party.
Obama did it right,
Hurrah, hurrah!!
He put his battalion of barristers out there watching
the polling places like hawks,
ready for a scrap,
ready to prosecute,
and the GOP goons, the redneck sombitches,
the fascist skinhead super-patriots,
the good old boys, the demagogues, the bullies
all kept their greasy hands in their pockets;
no hanging chads,
no cops keeping the black voters from the polls,
no screwed up polling machines,
no Jeb Bush to rig the situation, to put in the fix,
no excuses, just
the righteous election of the first black President of the United States!
America,
we are the winners,
we can once again feel that swelling in our chest as we announce
we are Americans, and we are proud this morning,
pride putting a strut in our step,
pride that has been pushed down and back like heartburn
for much too long, the rescue, the resurrection of the emotion
we all felt in elementary school saluting the flag,
cheering for JFK, protesting the war in Viet Nam,
hating LBJ, hating Richard Nixon, tolerating Ronald Reagan,
reaching out to Jimmy Carter, watching the Lion in the Desert,
Islam, rise up from the dust and ignorance, and stab so many of us
squarely in the heart.
Obama at his rally late last night said,
“American, this campaign was not hatched
in the halls of Washington.
This campaign was created because you demanded it,
and now I assure you,
this is your victory, and you will once more be proud
of a government of the people, for the people, and by the people
that shall not perish from the earth!”
Thanks for sharing, Barack,
our hero, our eloquent leader, the first of many to come we hope,
thank you Jesus, you are the Sidney Poitier of politics,
the Jackie Robinson of the White House;
the first, the first, the first man to step up
with solid compassion,
with truth in both fists,
with clear eyes,
with a good heart,
and now you have a firm grip on the helm,
and you will need it,
for there are dark days yet to come
as you struggle to bring America back from the brink,
out of the quagmire of stupidity and greed.
You have wrested control out of the hands of zealots,
of the Illuminata, the skull and bones boys,
the rich assholes who have tipped the balance
directly into their deep and treacherous pockets.
Never has this been done so cleanly, so completely.
You rubbed their noses in their own feces.
You let the people create more money for your campaign
than the politicos could ever have dreamed about,
you have stopped Sarah Palin from being a heartbeat
away from the power she did not deserve, nor should
have had under any circumstances.
Now the work begins.
We must form a ring around your family, around you,
millions deep, with each of us more than willing to take
a bullet for you, that bullet the John Birchers are already
polishing. We must protect you so that you can protect us,
divine reciprocity, democracy in action.
I wept as I drove through the chill of this morning,
pounding my fist on the dash of my pick up,
pumping the air, screaming Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,
goddamn rights, oh yeah.
Now is the time.
The time is now.
America, America,
you will rise again,
yesterday we spoke with one voice,
and it was so strong, so bellicose, so clear
that the words were heard in every corner of the globe;
the oil barons have been stopped,
the Depression has been abated,
the new Crusades will find a peaceful solution,
and being an American means
being color blind.
Glenn A. Buttkus November 5, 2008
Glenn Buttkus said,
November 5, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Without any further ado, here is the Shapiro Poem of the Week, Perhaps of the Month:
Yes, We Did!
Yes, we did.
After eight painful and shameful years
living in a nation held hostage
by greed and lies,
a lot of us experienced one gigantic,
collective exhale last night.
We watched as the U.S. pendulum
began a swing back toward sanity,
in an historic election
many of us had been afraid to believe
wouldn’t be stolen in its final hours.
I was in tears
at several moments during the evening.
First, when CNN declared
that Barack Obama was President Elect.
Capital letters emblazoned across the TV screen
were the indication to my psyche
that yes, this was real.
I wept.
And I wept again
when I saw the stunningly huge, entranced crowd
standing in Chicago,
as I listened intently
to this inspiring man’s moving speech.
Mr. Obama will probably
not be able to solve all the problems
this nation faces,
but I am extremely grateful
that he’s willing to sacrifice so much
to try.
I have no doubt that there will be
a significant improvement
not only in the direction of the U.S. government,
but in the morale of its citizens
who have been promised a President
who will actually listen to them.
And I can only guess
that we’ve suddenly gained
a few brownie points overseas,
as the world watches us attempt
to redeem ourselves.
As I type this at 3:30 Wednesday morning,
what began as the soothing sound
of moderate rain
has quickly ramped up
to quite a riot of sonic pounding
on my metal roof.
Curious, I opened the door
in my studio
and was astonished to witness
a remarkable hail storm
of ice pellets the size of canned peas.
Millions of them, pouring down,
bouncing, landing, joyously, insistently,
looking as though someone made
a middle of the night gravel delivery
atop the grass.
It’s not particularly cold;
just 42 degrees.
Barefoot,
I stepped outside
and delighted in standing there
with the hail pouring down on me.
Pummeling me, in fact.
A cheap thrill.
I even wondered if my car might get dented.
I cupped my hands
and collected these rounded icy gems,
rolling them over my fingers.
Wonderful.
Now back at my desk,
miniature snowballs slowly melt on my hair.
Even the atmosphere is celebrating
the outcome of the election.
Hail to the change in America!
Alex Shapiro November 5, 2008
Paul H. Muller said,
November 5, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
After all the noise of the last 8 years, just listening to Obama’s speech was like hearing Coltrane for the first time – it makes you weep.
My son and his girlfriend live in downtown Chicago, a few blocks from Grant Park. They somehow got tickets and were actually at the rally. What an historic moment!
Mike Wills said,
November 5, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
That’s a photo of the next shipment of Obama Bobble Head dolls headed for the shelves. As of this morning an entire city in China churning them out, along with Obama painting in oil and on velvet.
Alex Shapiro said,
November 5, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
Ha! I think you’re right, Mike!
Glenn, thanks for contributing your impassioned poem! We’re all rejoicing. It’s still sinking in…