Howard’s Inaugural Poem

Early in the show, Howard said he’d watched President Obama’s second inauguration yesterday–and loved Michelle’s new look: “The bangs! I like them. … It was great to–I mean, [on] Martin Luther King Day, to see a black President? And all those white guys behind him? It was really mind-blowing. I didn’t think I’d see that in my lifetime. I really didn’t.” After listening to the boring inaugural poems read by James Franco and Richard Blanco, Howard improvised his own: “The President placed his hand on two Bibles:

I, Barack Hussein Obama,do solemnly swear…The President places his hand on two Bibles–two,not three.Abraham Lincoln, as he did,first inaugurations,2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5thObama, Martin Luther King Day,marking the national holiday.Slain civil rights leader,first black President,Jay-Z, Beyonce,Jamie Foxx.Proud?Yes, proud.”