Poem: "First and Foremost"
This poem came out of the November 6, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from janetmiles and Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It was sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.
First and Foremost
When people ask First Lady Michelle Obama
to describe herself, she doesn't hesitate
to say that first and foremost,
she is Malia and Sasha's mom.
She speaks next of her own parents,
Fraser and Marian Robinson,
her childhood in Chicago,
the life lessons she learned there.
At Princeton she pursued
sociology and African-American studies;
at Harvard she learned law.
It was the study of law
that introduced her to
the man who would become her husband
and the father of her children
and the leader of a nation.
These things build,
you perceive,
each upon the other:
family nourishes the sprout
that blossoms into self
and seeds new family.
These things come,
you perceive,
in order of precedence:
for family must come first
in order for service to follow --
without the safe shelter of home and heart,
how could anyone have the strength
to shoulder and shelter a whole nation?
Without understanding
what unites and guides us,
how could anyone know where to lead?
Michelle Obama
has her foundation sound,
her priorities in working order,
first and foremost.