Sherry Chandler

Barack Obama, Poet

Thanks to Ron Silliman for the link to this Guardian critique of Barack Obama’s college poetry. Though I would have found it eventually. I have this page at The Guardian bookmarked. How remarkable that a daily newspaper still publishes poetry.

But back to Obama, billed as The Lyrical Democrat:

The first poem, Pop, is …a portrait in free-to-middling verse of his grandfather, with whom the young Obama lived in Honolulu, and the lines roll along in a wonderfully American way. There’s not a lot of formal structure to them, but he’s obviously read the Beat poets and writers like Gary Snyder and Charles Bukowski, who knew that the simple words are the best ones, as long as you place them carefully on the page.

…There’s a humanity in the poem, a sense of family values and shared cultural concerns that give us a hint of the Democrat to come; towards the end of the poem Obama sees his face “framed within/Pop’s black-framed glasses/and know he’s laughing too.” He sees himself reflected in his grandfather! If those lines don’t end up in a campaign speech, then I’m a tall thin Swede.

“Pop” is quoted in its entirety as is another, more pretentious poem called “Underground.”

Obama gets just more perfect everyday. As Silliman says, “echoes of Jimmy Carter and Eugene McCarthy.” Be sure to drop by Silliman’s blog. You’ll like the college photo of Obama you’ll find there. Also, he has links to some other articles of interest in one way and another.

Possibly related posts:

Poems for President Obama

Barack reads Derek

Elizabeth Alexander, inaugural poet

The Poet Laureate of mtvU

Heartland Review’s 2008 Joy Bale Boone Prize

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