October 16, 2011 (America in a Thousand Days)

If I may I would like put the inaugural euphoria for President Obama on pause for a moment. I don’t wish to interrupt the celebration, postpone the jubilation or even diminish the historical significance of the occasion. But there are some of us who remain skeptical about the 44th President. What is hope and change going to look like? Will we be better off in four years time? Will the President stumble through the challenges facing this nation the same way he stumbled while taking the oath of office? The following is a poem about what America might look like in a thousand days:

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October 16, 2011

He wants you to know there’s nothing to fear Things are going to be done in a new way The new boss will bring about hope and change It’s coming soon; it just won’t be coming today High hopes are cautioned that change Won’t arrive on our shores overnight A thousand nights have now passed Will it ever be in harbor’s sight? In the meantime our allies and friends Have raised their hands without lifting a finger All those weekly online fireside chats Our state of economic stagnation lingers You can see houses full of broken windows Uncollected garbage lines the streets Amongst the refuse is an old pamphlet Lying useless like subsidized wheat The back of his open hand Slowly closes into a fist If you want his compassion Then sign up for the waiting list With his patriotism a mile wide but an inch deep The Commander in Chief salutes at arm’s length It’s plain that history has taught him nothing About achieving peace through strength Where will our nation be Thirty days after thirty nine A land where you cannot tell What’s yours and what’s mine This was supposed to be our moment It has not come and we don’t know when Once more he will be full of promises Perhaps it will be time for change again Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston.

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