Like many others, I’m amazed how full my Inbox is when I see it first thing in the morning. Lots of emails get trashed after half an inattentive glance.

Knowing today is the anniversary of President Ronald Reagan‘s birthday, I paused at William Bennett’s email (shown below and reproduced from his book available here). Given Bennett’s personal relationship with President Reagan, I expected he would mark the day and I wasn’t disappointed.

This excerpt represents the concluding paragraphs of Reagan’s second inaugural address (full transcript here). Reading through this emailed excerpt, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Reagan’s gift for communication. He had the ability to speak from his heart and touch yours and mine. This speech reminds me of his keen poetic sensibilities.

ASIDE:  Yes, of course, the address was a collaboration; speechwriters Peggy Noonan, Tony Dolan and Bentley Elliott also contributed to this address.

Anyone who has read long ago posts on this blog knows my fondness for President Reagan. I had disagreements with the man and acknowledge disappointments during his tenure, but I will continue to admire him. (See this recent post for my comments on human imperfection.) Reagan’s deep love for our country was part of what made him The Great Communicator. His optimism was contagious!

To honor the memory of President Reagan, I took on a challenge today. I thought about how his evocative words might make a nice sonnet. In this regard, I limited myself (for the most part) to the ideas on which Reagan touched in the text of Bennett’s excerpt. The resulting sonnet is reproduced below.