Honestly, while normally I would pooh-pooh an inauguration poem, I was very struck by this one. Sure, there were some trite cliches, but I was impressed by the quality of the wordplay, the way most of the rhymes felt natural ("just is" / "justice" was a treat), and the earnest delivery. A lot of poets might have fallen prey to so-called virtue signalling and pandering...but I buy the sincerity of the words, and certainly appreciate the craftsmanship here. Turns of phrases like "even as we tired we tried" jumped out to me as being both meaningful and clever, which is a combination most poets probably aspire to achieve... I could critique the self-references dotted in, and like Roger says, the poem may lose a bit of its sheen once the euphoria of having a new president sworn in wears off, but ultimately I think the poem works well, and I'm glad to see that tons of high-profile people are talking about it. If nothing else, it shows that good poetry still has value, albeit "occasionally."
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