Song For Barack Obama Poem by ENOCH JOHN

When with mystique painted the sky gods a canopy of bright orange,
As if Cinabue had daubed the canvas of the sky strange,
For parading with majestic beauty on their exalted celestial stage
White puffs of clouds like angelic wings and their holy visage
And lo! Do I hear now some melodious keys of that Aeolian lyre
Which from us are forever lost upon history's burning pyre?
But in this day and upon the splendid esplanades I hear
The wind's exhilaration blowing its rhapsody through my ear.
O come now muse, and for a son, a new melody joyfully sing,
O come now muse and for eight beautiful pearls in a crown, sing.
Sing for Ni'ihau, Kaua'i, O'ahu, Moloka'i, and Lana'i
Sing for Kaho'olawe, Maui, and O sing aloud for Hawai'i.
Along two archipelagoes they ride Poseidon waves as a train,
These sea-nymphs in a peaceful Pacific come with exultant refrain,
Chanting a song of the ocean in a most wonderful chorus,
Of a son of the islands whose destiny will be glorious.

When with genius speckled vermillion was etched on a Kansas sky,
As if Giotto, with the sky gods had conspired, I don't know why,
For stretching beyond the arc of eye the yellowed acreage of wheat,
A prosperity, the whole world with uplifted hearts hopes to meet.
Crowned with laurel after treading Harvard's hallowed halls,
Near the windy city, upon Michigan's winged waters a new voice calls
To an eager world ready to embrace peace and prosperity for all,
And he, like ''Honest Abe'' bears ''malice toward none, charity for all.''
O come now muse, and for a son, a new melody bring,
O come now muse, for Lake Michigan and her surf of syntax sing,
For Langston Hughes and O for Martin Luther King sing,
And let his' hills of Alabama and his snow-capped Rockies ring.
Inside New York's Harbour they ride Poseidon waves as a train,
These sea-nymphs around Lady Liberty come with exultant refrain,
Chanting a song of the people in a most wonderful chorus,
Of a son of America whose star brightly shines for us.