An Inaugural Prayer

Lord, Whom we may not mention
Except when we complain,
Lend us the rapt attention
Of Thine ancient brain.

Let words like faith and power,
Integrity and change,
Be bartered in this hour,
And let those words estrange

Us from our friends and neighbors
In long-drawn arguments
Till the fruits of our labors
Ripen to common sense.

May no vote be decided
Save when we disagree;
A nation undivided
Never can be free.

http://www.thebestamericanpoetry.typ...erican_poetry/

I have the 2008 ed. on order, so I'll have to wait until I get it to see if I can plug a line in somewhere. Any suggestions from those who have it already would be appreciated.

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Here's the final version, showing strict compliance with the contest rules:

An Inaugural Prayer

Lord, Whom we may not mention
By name, Great Undefined,
Lend us one dimension
Of Thine awful mind.

The words will come--faith, power,
Integrity, and change--
To be bartered in this hour,
And may those words estrange

Us from our friends and neighbors
In long-drawn arguments
Till the fruits of our labors
Ripen to common sense.

Let no vote be decided
Save when we disagree.
A nation undivided
Never can be free.

[Per the rules of the competition, The first four words of line 5 are taken from R. T. Smith's "Pentecost"; the second word of line 13 is line 6 of Charles Bernstein's "Ku(na)hay," and the first word of line 15 is line 19 of the same poem.]

This is subtle and scabrous at once, Sam. One of your top satirical pieces ever. The question is, could satire win? You're probably feeling "Who cares?" at this point--it was enough they inspired you to write this. And I'd agree.

Wow. Did you know Alan Sullivan is in BAP for "Divide and Conquer?!

And Ciaran Berry, who used to be more visible, at least at the Gaz. Not sure whether he was a member here at one time.

No, Terese, only totalitarian nations can't tolerate dissent. As ugly as we sometimes get, it is better that we yell at each other.

I agree.

No, wait! I disagree! Nyahhh!

Agreed, Sam! But it's not the U.S. that's running this contest, it's the people who put out Best American Poetry.

I can only hope that they yell at one another from time to time like the rest of us.

It's true that just about everyone here has been taken to task, shall we say, at one time or another--now that you mention it.

I can't imagine what goes on behind the scenes at BAP. Surely they must have disagreements.

I know I'm not American and I know this doesn't make any sense, but all the lines are by other people (except one), I've got all the words in, one twice, and I've even got a quote from the introduction (bestline in the poem). I can't bring myself to spell honour your way though. There is some shit I will not eat. Another quote.

Of making many books there is no end.
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon.
Integrity of life is man’s best friend
To pluck bright honour from the pale faced moon.

All hope abandon, ye who enter here,
For money has a power above the stars,
In action faithful and in honour clear.
Our evening ends with brandy and cigars.

Minding true things by what their mockeries be
The sea of faith was once, too, at the full.
Change and decay in all around I see,
Yet both so passing strange and wonderful.

Thy discontent to me thou didst bequeath:
The night and darkness and some real sharp teeth.

"Then fly, false thanes, / And mingle with the English epicures like John W.!"

'Pon my honor, John, are there no limits to your sly and devious word wielding?

Well writ!

(As is that of your brother-in-arms.)

After receiving a copy of the book in question, I did discover that my poem already had lifted two "lines" from poems (or a poem) in BAP 2008. The second word of l. 13 and the first word of l. 15 were in fact individual lines from a poem by Charles Bernstein. Ever a stickler for the rules, I made this point with my entry.