Take the Lead

At last a new man to take the lead

A momentous election

We can only pray he will succeed.

An end to all this hatefulness and greed,

A new direction,

At last a new man to take the lead.

He must right our nation with much speed

And rid us of the worlds negative perception.

We can only pray he will succeed.

One who does not sit high on his steed,

Unconcerned by imperfection.

At last a new man to take the lead.

To guide us and follow our creed,

Our constitution, its resurrection.

We can only pray he will succeed.

This new hope is what we need,

This fair selection,

At last a new man to take the lead,

We can only pray he will succeed!

~Kristen 

I wrote this poem to reflect the hope that a new leader of our country will bring. Change is coming and it is about time that it influences our lives in a positive way. A villanelle is generally humorous but I could not find a way to make all of the rules and regulations fit into a poem that actually read in a humorous tone and still made even the slightest bit of sense. Instead, I decided to base my off of the monumental inauguration we just had. I thought that the strict rules and regulations of the villanelle could be easily paralleled by the strict regulations of government. The new leader in the poem could literally be interpreted as Obama, our newest president, which is originally how I had designed it to be. Or it could simply be an open statement for what our country needs from its leader without putting a name to such leader. However one chooses to interpret it, I hope those who read it will feel inspired to support our new leader and help him to achieve success.