A Parade of Presidents

Today, Poetry Paraders, we march into winter break with a celebration of Presidents' Day.  Our first poem, from We the People by Bobbi Katz, imagines the thoughts and feelings of the first president as he took office on a historic day:

Inauguration Day Thoughts

George Washington

New York, New York, April 30, 1789 

What a heavy obligation.

I must not betray the trust 

of this fledgling little nation.

I must start out right.  I must.

The War gave us a common cause.

Now loud voices of dissent

grow sharper than a jaguar's claws

raised to strike in discontent.

I must show by words and actions

how free men resolve their fights.

I must balance all the factions--

calm the zealots for States' rights.

I must set the first example

of what a President should be,

as I walk

        on untrodden ground

with

    no path

                in place

         for

me. 

Our next poem, from Lives: Poems about Famous Americans, uses visual imagery and compares the sixteenth president's youthful wood chopping to the hard work of holding a nation together during the Civil War: 

Abe 

And so,

young Abe

        of the too-short pants

        and too-long legs,

young Abe spitting into his palms.

wrapping his bony fingers around

        the handle of an axe,

sinking the bright blue blade deep 

        into heartwood,

young Abe splitting the rails apart

grew into Abe

        of the sad eyes

        of the face carved deep

        by sorrow,

wrapping his strong hands

        around a nation,

trying to hold the bleeding halves 

together

until they healed.

-- Alice Schertle

Our final poem, from American History Fresh Squeezed by Carol Diggory Shields, describes the presidential origin of a traditional American toy, first manufactured in Brooklyn, New York, in 1902:

Teddy

The President said, "Beware!

I'm out to bag a bear."

His guide said, "Over there!

I see one in his lair."

Said Roosevelt, "I declare,

That's just a baby bear--

Hunting it would be unfair!"

The news spread from here to there

That Teddy had spared a bear,

Which is in your bed upstairs,

In cribs, on sofas, in chairs,

Or almost anywhere

You will find a teddy bear.

The Parade of Presidents marches on, with rhythm and rhyme in the air... and poetry everywhere.

Enjoy your winter break, Poetry Paraders!