Inauguration Poem for Bill Rosendahl
By Philomene
Long
A hundred years ago, this very
day, July 2, 1905, Venetians gathered to turn on 17, 000 light bulbs
illuminating Venice of America. That light is now being passed to another
century. We here today, are a result of those first Venetians’ intentions
as we gather to witness Bill Rosendahl take his oath of office as our
Councilman. His intention: to both preserve and nurture that luminosity.
Raised in Venice, the very place in which
he will take the oath, he is deeply connected to the land. “I try to live
close to the earth,” he says. And “My religion is simple: Love thy
neighbor.” Of him it is said: “He listens.” And (this is true)
a chicken will lay green eggs for him! There is both an unexplainable magic and
a practical explanation for this. But the real question is– if he can
nurture a chicken to the point where she will lay green eggs, what else can he
do!?
Today, July 2, 2005,
just before noon
In the full
force of our Southern California
sun
Before the Pacific
Ocean
Surrounded by those whom
he calls neighbor
As Bill
Rosendahl speaks his oath of
office
With him will be the
voices of those
Who
illuminated Venice 100 years
ago
And with them our voices
joining
In the full force of
that original intention
To
preserve and protect the body and soul of
Venice
Venice, city conceived
in imagination for
imagination
With body intact
–the canals, the welcoming
houses
The people came. It
happened – the magic –
unexplainable
Venice becoming
the city imagined
A city like
no other city on earth
Its
community of Venetians giving her a
soul
Bright. Transcendent. The
soul of Venice
A gift, which
cannot be bought nor
stolen
This is the gift out
right, freely given
To those
open to receive it; for those who
listen
But Venice transcendent
still needs a body
It can be,
has been, wounded
It can die;
live on only in history
So we
here today, as with previous
Venetians
Welcome all as
neighbor, loving freely
At the
same time preserve and protect our radiant city
With magic and practicality
And with the hope of a pale
green egg
That resolve passed
on from those that have gone before
us
For them as for ourselves,
and for those that will
follow
Will stand here where
we stand today
And who will
walk upon our footsteps into the next
century
That the light of
Venice not be extinguished
Nor diminished, nor simply be
maintained
But that light
burn, burn, burn into a boundless Luminosity!
Posted: Mon - August 1, 2005 at 10:13 PM