Speculations abound: who will be Obama’s inaugural poet? Derek Walcott, as his collection was nestled in the crook of Obama’s arm mere days after the election (above)? Kay Ryan, perhaps? Or will he boldly go where no president has gone before (flarffernutter, anyone?) David Alan Grier’s Maya Angelou parody suggests this particular cultural moment for her is snuffed. Maybe our president-elect will pull a fast one and tap Michael Chabon–he was, unlike any poet, part of Obama’s first cultural committee. Yet how can you resist the Walt Whitman double, direct from my home turf in Ft. Greene Park? He is alive and well and ready to roll out “I Hear America Singing,” if the wonderful Elizabeth Alexander is not available to read her work first.