Face the shore and step out boldly

[sovay]

It may be a popular index of the low bar of our country that I woke with a jolt at noon and realized no one had called to tell me that anything dreadful had occurred pre-inauguration and then fell back asleep until one o'clock when no one had called to tell me that anything dreadful had occurred post-inauguration either and now I am catching up on all the meaningful real and ritual gestures that I missed while finally in a post-Arisia state of collapse. I know there is a plague still raging, I know white supremacy has not been hurled forever out of time, but I am glad of the safety and the beauty of the ceremony. I am glad of the inaugural poet. I am glad of the diversity of an administration that does not aspire to kill me. selkie sent me "God Bless America" af Yidish courtesy of the Folksbiene. May the day set the tone for the future. I have been having a lot of conversations about tikkun olam.

Comments

[nineweaving]

I am encouraged that the new president set to work governing at once, putting metaphorical bleach to its proper use.

Thank you so much for “Got Bentsh Amerike,” which is gorgeous and had me in tears.

*hugs*

Nine

[sovay]

I am encouraged that the new president set to work governing at once, putting metaphorical bleach to its proper use.

Yes. I still think they should get the White House exorcised as well as deep-cleaned.

Thank you so much for “Got Bentsh Amerike,” which is gorgeous and had me in tears.

You are very welcome.

*hugs*

[nineweaving]

I still think they should get the White House exorcised as well as deep-cleaned.

Truly. Bell, book, and candle. Brands of juniper. And while they’re at it, a writ of damnatio memoriae.

Nine

Nine

[selkie]

If we are ever in the same place at the same time, I am going to take it as read that S. will harmonize it while I cling gamely to the melody line and you listen!

[asakiyume]

I watched the inaugural poem on a news clip on Twitter and really *loved* it. Some of the lines were stunning, and the overall poem was just wonderful--and watching her deliver it, her cadences, her gestures, her expressions--beautiful.

[selkie]

Well, we are still here.

*dusts hands*

That's a four-story house with three contiguous wings. We're gonna need... approximately seventy boxes of kosher salt.

[sovay]

I watched the inaugural poem on a news clip on Twitter and really *loved* it.

I watched it on PBS!

I linked the transcription because I had been looking for a text of the poem for some time without success and I thought other people might have been doing the same. If I find a more official publication, I'll swap it in. My God, I can interact with sites ending .gov without feeling my fur stiffen as in the presence of evil. I am sure bureaucracy will still try to kill me, but maybe more normally now?

[sovay]

Well, we are still here.

Mir zaynen do.

*hugs*

That's a four-story house with three contiguous wings. We're gonna need... approximately seventy boxes of kosher salt.

spatch unpromptedly suggested extending an invitation to the proper people to come bearing with them all the sage.

[julian]

Hello, yes. Thank you and Selkie for the God Bless America. Let us have some new tone.

[selkie]

I will bring hot beverages for all of them! I'm not afraid of the White House any more!
(Our kid used to be, like, bland-blasé familiar with being there. I think they went 6 times and once in utero. Reclaiming access to the People's House is going to be awesome.)

[asakiyume]

Yeah, I hope she'll release a version of the poem as she conceived it in terms of look on a page, but in the meantime having that transcription is great.

And yeah, maybe a little less intentionality in the threats!

[minoanmiss]

*beams and also beams*

[nineweaving]

May the heavens grant us that glad meeting!

Nine

[sovay]

If we are ever in the same place at the same time, I am going to take it as read that S. will harmonize it while I cling gamely to the melody line and you listen!

Deal!

[sovay]

*beams and also beams*

*hugs*

[sovay]

Hello, yes. Thank you and Selkie for the God Bless America. Let us have some new tone.

You're welcome. Amen.

[sovay]

(Our kid used to be, like, bland-blasé familiar with being there. I think they went 6 times and once in utero. Reclaiming access to the People's House is going to be awesome.)

I must have been inside the White House when my eighth grade class took our field trip to D.C., but primarily I remember the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. Please don't even hurt yourself trying to look shocked. I look forward to visiting our halls of government with your child who will probably be mortified that I am not blasé.

[selkie]

Well, you can do all the monuments with them, as they are shockingly inaccessible for those of us whose legs are less suited to land; they've never seen those, because LIKE FUCKETY PANTS we were letting our kid march with the Scouts of the Nation's Capitol in the LAST inaugural parade and there wasn't one this year. There's a sittable-on Fala the Dog at the FDR.

[sovay]

Well, you can do all the monuments with them, as they are shockingly inaccessible for those of us whose legs are less suited to land

I can do that. I have walked the National Mall and all that jazz.

There's a sittable-on Fala the Dog at the FDR.

I climbed on Uncle Beazley at the National Museum of Natural History!

[gwynnega]

Here on the west coast, I woke up a little after seven a.m. and wondered what I would find out if I turned on the TV or my tablet. I waited a little longer, and then I did, and nothing bad had happened, so I watched the inauguration (not literally but figuratively through my fingers). It has been a good day.

[sovay]

It has been a good day.

I am glad it has been. I look forward to a time when that definition does not require an absence of assassinations. (And plague.)

[sovay]

Yeah, I hope she'll release a version of the poem as she conceived it in terms of look on a page, but in the meantime having that transcription is great.

I found and swapped in what looks like a more official version! It has stanzas and line breaks not dictated by breath. What I was hoping for was a link from the poet's own page, but I can keep waiting.

And yeah, maybe a little less intentionality in the threats!

I keep seeing variations across social media on "Hooray! Now I can go back to hating my government a normal amount!"

[ashlyme]

Thank you both for sharing this song - I trust it more in Yiddish for some reason. God knows you all deserve this day. May there be many many more of them.

[starlady]

We made it. So many people haven't, but there's a place to stand on and a lever to move the world, finally.

[sovay]

Thank you both for sharing this song - I trust it more in Yiddish for some reason.

You're welcome. I suspect it's because—even though the English version was written by a Jewish immigrant—this one hasn't been misused.

May there be many many more of them.

Thank you. I know they can't all be joyous, but I want them to be safe.

*hugs*

[sovay]

We made it. So many people haven't, but there's a place to stand on and a lever to move the world, finally.

I am glad of the lever. I hope we continue to make it. I hope as many people as possible do.

[labingi]

I feel like I can breathe again! I had no idea how the impact of Trumpism had screwed me down till I will set free.