Pam and I traveled to Greene County today to participate in the All Arts Matter Poetry Read-In.I placed third in their poetry contest in the spring, and this was the opportunity for the winners – and others – to read their work.
All Arts Matter is an arts center located in a former church in Greenville, NY.The center has existed for 11 years, and holds art exhibitions, classical concerts, readings, and theatre.This was the first time that I have actually received monetary compensation for my poetry, so this arts group in the middle of the Catskills will always be special for Pam and I.My thanks to Tony DiVito and his group for their very warm welcome on a nice fall afternoon in the mountains.
Each year, a day arrives that signals the change in season -- regardless of the calendar. Today is that day.
We had four straight days of humidity and 90 degree temps. Last night, a western front ventured across our valleys and raced to collide with Hurricane Earl, which had lost steam as he came up the coast. The front cleansed the air. A veil was lifted, and small signs of the next season are visible. Scattered yellow and orange leaves have become stark, announcing the arrival that actually happened a week ago out our den window. We ignored them in the heat, when we foolishly believed summer was still ours.
The Oval Office in the White House has been redecorated.One decorator dubbed it ‘the audacity of taupe’, due to the preponderance of browns and subdued yellow in the walls and the furniture.The look is low-key, missing in any primary reds or blues – but calming, nonetheless.
The center rug is ringed with quotes selected by the President.One wag called such a decorative touch something a fifth grader would think of doing.But the selections are indicative of Obama’s view of government, and role that a chief executive of the citizenry should play:
Government of the people, by the people and for the people (Lincoln).
No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. (Kennedy)
The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally on the welfare of all of us.(Teddy Roosevelt)
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. (Martin Luther King)
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. (FDRoosevelt)
These are words selected by someone who believes government is a positive force for society – who views government not as an institution separate from society, but as an integral part of society.Government is us, not them.
This is the core difference between the philosophy of the current President, and the philosophy of someone like Sarah Palin.Palin believes that government should be a minimalist institution that only provides groundwork or framework for society – a set of common rules and limits, primarily – and then lets the other institutions operate, whether the consequences be positive or negative.
As a country, we can do better than that.As a society, we can write the strength of Obama’s selective quotes into poetry:
