Presidential Podium Poet?

      We have a presidential inauguration coming up, and thanks to COVID-19, it's going to be unusual. The incoming administration plans to keep in-person events to a minimum; members of Congress, who typically are given 200,000 tickets to hand out, will receive two each. Nearly all events beyond the oath-taking will be virtual. 

     But of course the one question on the lips of millions of Americans regarding the inauguration is: Will somebody read a poem at this thing?

Please, let there be no bongos

 

 

       Joe Biden's old boss asked a poet to recite at both his first and second inaugural. Biden is known to quote verse on the regular -- especially that of Irish poets like Seamus Heaney -- but an American poet is required for this occasion, and anyway Heaney has been somewhat indisposed since 2013. So who, if anyone, might the president-elect select?

      A group of 70 writers has written an open letter to Biden urging him to pick Rhina Espaillat.

     Espaillat is a distinguished poet who was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the U.S.A. when her family was banished by the dictator Trujillo. The open letter says that her work "is admired for its graciousness and warmth of humanity." Biden can surely appreciate that...and appreciate that featuring a poet who is 1) a senior citizen, 2) Latina, and 3) the daughter of despot-resisting immigrants would please multiple factions of his party. 

     While we wait to see whether this open letter delivers results, here's a (bilingual!) poem by Rhina Espaillat to distract us from turbulence in the news.