On the Pulse of a New Year

To welcome the New Year: Here is an excerpt from Maya Angelou’s poem On the Pulse of Morning, which she read at the Inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton on 20 January 1993.


Lift up your eyes
Upon this day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.

Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands,
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For a new beginning.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space
To place new steps of change
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out and upon me,
The Rock, the River, the Tree, your country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
And into your brother’s face,
Your country,
And say simply
Very simply
With hope—
Good morning.

(Go here for the full text of On the Pulse of Morning.)


GOOD MORNING and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Don't forget to visit The Cybils 2006 website.

The five finalists in each book category will be announced today. Hooray!


The posting of the five-book shortlists will occur at the following times:

9:15 Poetry
9:30 Non-fiction Picture Book
9:45 Fiction Picture Book
10:00 YA fiction
10:15 MG/YA Non-fiction
10:30 MG fiction
10:45 Graphic Novel
11:00 Fantasy/Science Fiction

Thanks to Kelly at Big A little a for the posting times listed above.

May 2007 bring us many wonderful new children's books!