Much how I love that Inauguration Day exposes all of us to beautiful music, I also love how it exposes us to poetry. And exposes a poet– writers who most often are in the background and whose books are not swallowed enough– to the world. My heartbeat huge for Elizabeth Alexander as she approached the podium and then looked out over the crowd. Many poets have just a handful of audience members at readings because poetry isn’t appreciated the way that it should be and so this big audience is wonderful for Alexander and for poetry.
My favorite line of her poem, Praise Song for the Day? “We encounter each other in words.”
