The Day I Saw Barack Obama Reading Derek Walcott's Collected Poems (Yusef Komunyakaa)

Wow. Back in '08 when Obama won election is when I'm guessing this poem by Yusef Komunyakaa was written. It was a heady time - a black man, a young, charismatic orator won the presidential election. I wonder if there are other poems/essays about that time. I know there must be, but I think that poetry is particularly suited to the task, and in particular I think that this poem deals with this current event in a way that also touches on and deals with its complicated history.

Obama and Walcott (another talented biracial man from a tropical island). I like the connection made between the two. I like that in this very current poem, you get a great feel for the complexity of race, complexion, history, culture, art and politics.

I love that in a poem about 'real' topics (ones that you could reference in the paper), the focus is on the president's connection with literature and poetry.

Love this poem, love this complexity. Love that poetry can yield stuff this complex because if you wrote it out into prose I bet you'd have at least a 50-page paper.

Favorite line: "Now, he looks as if he wants to eat words, / their sweet, intoxicating flavor."

Now, he looks as if he wants to eat words, their sweet, intoxicating flavor. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22551#sthash.EFLoCkWS.dpuf