Poem: Inauguration

Inauguration

It’s like coming home, this georgic grace
that sweeps the cornfields, causes stalks to twitter,
telling us that unfortunate truth: those we love
are never the ones who love us.
I yearn to regale you with virtues,
my ambitions, my glorious and refined,
but hesitation holds me trigger-fingered
for history runs rampant today, and I
would be remiss if I did not tip my hat to those coffers
and say my sin is one of pride,
just or unjust, shining and shameful
a funeral cloak to send smoldering
on the coals of time’s descent.
You could not know
You could not know because you are popular,
you are popular as the sun, popular
as the ruddy tinged cheeks, popular
as a Cadillac shimmying up the driveway.
You never had a moment of want,
suitors fell at your doorstep,
a suite of tutors, a tower of books
a host of dreams and a Greek play too,
you’ve had everything but this
so I linger, phantom between apology and arrogance
because this could have been anything
ten dozen cranes, an origami fleet sailing
to another time, perhaps
when you would have forgiven me.