Yes, yes I watched and listened even as I said I would
I couldn’t help but contrast it with eight short years ago
Obama’s soaring rhetoric, his vision: yes we could
He talked the talk and walked the walk; his humble greatness glows
The post-war era’s ended where the US led the World
Promoting and defending new democracies abroad
Our outlook international, as peace throughout unfurled
Except for local conflicts slow to reach a peace accord
Historically each era spawns a counter-era trend
The Western nations are retrenching, inward looking more
Societies are closing. “We come first; let others fend”
The President’s inaugural speech reflected this in store
But more in tone than substance; absent any concepts new
He labeled problems regional as though they were throughout
And promised he would fix them, never saying what he’d do
The speech, itself was very dark; so’ll be his term, no doubt.
1/20/17
