This 22-year-old took the stage as Inaugural Poet with such grace and poise that I have no words to add. Watch Amanda Gorman reads her Inaugural Poem, The Hill We Climb Read the transcript here. Read other inaugural poems here.
Category: Poem
The Year ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox What can be said in New Year rhymes,That’s not been said a thousand times? The new years come, the old years go,We know we dream, we dream we know. We rise up laughing with the light,We lie down weeping with the night. We hug the world until it stings,We …Read More
To Know the Dark ~ Wendell Berry
To Know the Dark by Wendell Berry To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. I’ve only seen it once, and only by accident. It was …Read More
Good Timber ~ Douglas Malloch
Today’s inspiration comes from “The Lumberman’s Poet” as he was affectionately known. Douglas Malloch grew up in Michigan among logging camps and lumber yards. He wrote this poem when he was just a boy. As I scale the mountains and descend into the valleys of life, this poem reminds me that trees (and people) grow …Read More
Brandon Leake brings Spoken Word to AGT
Emotions bottled up can lead to explosions. Young men are often not allowed to have their range of emotions. The tears of sadness are ridiculed. Toxic shame hides under the bravado. There is no place for fear. Anger masquerades as strength holding back the pain of bottled up sadness and shame. This leaves two acceptable …Read More
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. ~ Irish Blessing, Author Unknown Today’s inspiration is from …Read More
Funeral Blues ~ W. H. Auden
During times of crisis when the world is soaked in grief, waves of sadness touch us as we yearn for what has been lost. When in the middle of grief, it helps to know that we are not alone. We find comfort knowing that others have been there and survived to tell about it. W. …Read More
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night ~ Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas (1914 – 1953) achieved popularity in his lifetime as a drunken ill-fated lost poet, a reputation that he encouraged, until his early death at 39 years old. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, perhaps his most famous poem, calls forth the tenacity of the human spirit. Do Not Go Gentle Into …Read More
The day the solar system broke ~ Fatimah Asghar
Today, most of us know what it is like for the world as we know it to shift. You wake up one day, and it’s nothing like yesterday and nothing like any of the tomorrows that you had envisioned. Perhaps, even your place in the world has changed. In 2006, scientists decided that Pluto was …Read More
Like light, we can’t be broken ~ Amanda Gorman
Amid times of crisis, inaugural American youth poet laureate delivers words of comfort and hope. With the powerful conviction of her voice, she recites one of her poems from the Los Angeles Central Public Library. “The question is not if we will we will weather this unknown, but how we will weather this unknown together…. …Read More