Raymond A. Foss Poems

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Somehow, the wisdom of the founders, right
these words he will join, as all who have gone before
right to be heard on this day, the day after his birthday
a day like none other, healing wounds
wounds bound up, scars of the past
mindful of our history, the legacy of pain,
of injustice, in law twisted, in wrongs condoned
a new day of hope, dawning in America
these words chosen for our nation,
fidelity to law, to right, not to power
a man humbly joining the line
unlike those who have gone before

January 17, 2009
on the juxtaposition of the
80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the inauguration of Barack Obama
as President of the United States of America
and the Presidential Oath, from the
US Constitution, Article I, Section 1, Clause 8,
repeated verbatim by the presidents. The only language in quotes
in the Constitution, unlike the general principles elsewhere.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend
the Constitution of the United States."

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