Studying “The Hill We Climb” offers students a unique opportunity to access poetry. The youngest inaugural poet in United States history, Gorman wanted her poem “The Hill We Climb” to “envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal” without “erasing or neglecting the harsh truths . . . America needs to reconcile with.” The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman faced a unique challenge. Her first two books come out in September - the picture story “Change Things” and a bound edition of her inaugural poem, along with other works. “That day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem,” Gorman told the AP. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Gorman, a native and resident of Los Angeles and the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, Gorman said last week that she planned to combine a message of hope for President Biden’s inaugural without ignoring “the evidence of discord and division.” She had completed a little more than half of “The Hill We Climb” before Jan. Our people diverse and beautiful will emerge, We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states, Where our forefathers first realized revolution We will rise from the windswept northeast We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west, We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

Will be the inheritance of the next generationĮvery breath from my bronze-pounded chest, How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us? How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe? Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracyīut while democracy can be periodically delayed We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit, That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree Not because we will never again know defeatīut because we will never again sow division That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of manĪnd so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us We are striving to forge a union with purpose We the successors of a country and a timeĭescended from slaves and raised by a single mother We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace

Poem the hill we climb