人，並不會因為夢想而偉大。
而人，的確因為夢想而有了偉大的可能。當美國在過去的八年被人稱為流氓國家，
在世人面前一塊磚一片瓦地剝落頹垮，
當我的孩子們開始不好意思跟同學提起他們的美國護照。
我們一度認為，成住壞空的歷史週期誰也逃不過，
風光了大半個世紀的美國，就在我們的見證下，
終歸輪到該她倒下的時候了。但是，美國的六千四百萬公民，
在這個不敢作夢垂頭喪氣的時代，
勇敢地共築了一個新的夢。
或許，就我看來，他們真正要表達的是：
美國，仍然是一個有能力作夢的國家。一個成熟的民主國家，不至於把任何一個人當作救世主。
這群敢於作夢的公民，
以及在零下一度的廣場上鵠立守候的三百萬平民百姓，
起碼還是昂起了頭，
向世界宣告了他們仍然保有那作夢能力的驕傲。在他就職的前兩天，台灣的報紙上就有好幾篇關於女詩人 Elizabeth Alexander 將在典禮中獻詩的報導。兩天過去了，卻沒看到後續報導。這讓我有些失望。 今天下午，我去紐約時報找到了 Alexander 的全文。 在國內學者終於準備好要告訴我們這首詩的故事以前 （我特別等著南方朔的譯文或賞析）， 我們先勇敢地看看這首詩吧。
Praise song for the day: the Inaugural Poem for Obama
Elizabeth Alexander
January 20, 2009 (Transcript from New York Times)Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair. Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice. A woman and her son wait for the bus. A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin." We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider. We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road." We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see. Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of. Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; Then figuring it out at kitchen tables. Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self." Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need. What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance. In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun. On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.
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