A photograph of Jimmy Carter in the white house, seated on a chair in front of a portrait of George Washington.

Rotunda Viewing

For President Carter

Painted angels watched as we watched
the passing silent, stoic, symbolic heraldry.
Steady marches like toy soldiers from every uniform kept time
as no time and all time passed us by all at once,
in a montage of peanut fields and white houses.
Here, in this sacred space Garfield and Ford, rival and friend,
among celebrated others look on, and storied frescos recount
the history he joins as the reverent stillness fills up
the air up in the dome of leadership. There is a stillness here.
Then, a march for the way things could be. Forward, now.
Brumidi’s angel carries her shield in red, white, and blue
just like the colors he now wears, our most humble servant.
From her perch, she saw how the bull shaman ran,
spread fire, smashed windows and pulled at her skirts—
the fabric of our democratic experiment. She pushes back
his shadow as a single spotlight illuminates the simple man
beneath the flag and inside the wood. He would dissent,
just as one woman he put on the bench. Five times as many
women. More than double the number of African American judges.
The largest embrace of people who grew out of conflict,
and the preservation of the lands we share, the roots of us—
the roots of all of us. A common faith in equity and honesty,
so deep in his soul carried from the deep south to the poorest reaches:
Anyone could be successful with love. He believed in better.
Come in from the cold, slip if you need to. But enter
and let the light flash death in your eyes so bright.
Except it is not death, life—a celebration of humanity—we hold.
Hold space for him, for what could be and
tell me then, what you believe.

Sophia Latorre-Zengierski is a writer and photographer based in Princeton, New Jersey. She enjoys exploring the relationship between reality and fantasy, urban and natural spaces, and the power of imagination. Additionally, her work has previously appeared in The Penn Review, as well as UnderAge, Clash by Night, Seven Seas Media and SaintAudio. In May 2024, she received an Author/Poet Fellowship at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing.

Voice recording editing by Justin Parnell.

President Jimmy Carter honored with a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral as all 5 living presidents attend
[NBC News]

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