If I had a sonSeeing his words that way would have highlighted and clarified the already poetic or at least literary nature of the statement. Folks would have picked up on the two 5-syllable lines, the simile (like), the alliteration (look like), and the rhyme (son / Trayvon).
he'd look like Trayvon
He could have included more line breaks stretching the poem out a little more:
IfIn that configuration, the "If" of Obama's statement and thus his interest in speculation would be even more pronounced. Accordingly, Obama's statement would remind some readers of Langston Hughes's poem "If-ing," where the speaker imagines several scenarios and closes by noting that "just by if-ing / I have a good time!"
I had
a son
he'd
look like
Trayvon
Perhaps my own interest in examining verse within and beyond the world of poetry inclined me to see the poetry of the President's statement.
Related:
• A Notebook on the Trayvon Martin Case
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