Obama Takes The Oath Poem by Robert Charles Howard

On an early November day
when the last oak leaves
clung to barren branches,
Americans from Maine to L.A.
set aside their labors
to ring the freedom bell -
one ballot at a time
and decreed the time had come.

And so on a frigid January day
an eloquent man with African DNA,
placed a hand on Lincoln's bible
and vowed allegiance to us all.

Now Barack Obama's family
resides in America's home -
wrought a few scant yesterdays past
by the arms and backs
of human chattel who
though severed from their sacred liberty
held fast to their singing souls.

So with hope - filled mending hearts,
we entrust our nation's wheel
to the steady hand
of a calm and pensive man
who, in his vision, would dare
to unite the heavens with the soil -
one aspiration at a time.

January 20, 2009