At age 22, Amanda Gorman became the youngest person to deliver a poem at a U.S. presidential inauguration, reciting her poem “The Hill We Climb” after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as president and vice president.
Gorman said she wrote the stirring poem with the intention of representing as many Americans as possible.
It is here in its entirety.
The Hill We Climb
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
