Jan 13, 2009 2:00 pm US/Eastern
Angelou Eager To Watch Obama Inauguration - On TV
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) ―
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Maya Angelou signs copies of "Maya Angelou: Letter to My Daughter" at Barnes & Noble in Union Square on Oct. 30, 2008, in New York City. (File)
Gabriela Maj/Getty Images
Poet Maya Angelou, who recited one of her works at Bill Clinton's first inauguration, won't be on hand when Barack Obama takes the oath of office. But she says she won't miss a minute of it.
Angelou, 80, said she'll be at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., next Tuesday, watching the ceremonies on television.
"I shall enjoy those and not miss one flicker of the camera. Not one flick," she told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "I shall be somewhere between crying and praying and being grateful and laughing when I see faces I know."
When Clinton was inaugurated in 1993, Angelou wrote and read an original composition for the occasion, "On the Pulse of Morning." She was the first poet to read at an inauguration since Robert Frost did so for John F. Kennedy in 1961.
Angelou, who grew up in Arkansas, said she didn't expect to be called upon again and was eager to hear poet Elizabeth Alexander, whom Obama chose to be a part of his ceremony.
"It gives another person a chance to stand in that light, to have that kind of exposure, and she's a fine poet," Angelou said. "... I just know it's going to be great."
Frost was 86 when he appeared at the Kennedy inaugural. Poet James Dickey read at an inaugural gala after Jimmy Carter was sworn in. Arkansas poet Miller Williams read "Of Hope and History" at Clinton's second inaugural.
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