Great Regulars: And yet, it's hard to merge poetry and politics,

which we discussed in regard to the Blanco poem. Tobar saw the touch of Whitman in its sweeping rhythms, which use the imagery of a day in America to get at what unifies us all. I found the poem more uneven, at its best when Blanco wrote of his experience, especially in the image of someone on the way to "ring up groceries as my mother did/for twenty years, so I could write this poem."

from David L. Ulin: Los Angeles Times: Hector Tobar and David L. Ulin on the inauguration as literature

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