Amanda Gorman was thrust into the spotlight in January 2021 after her reading of her own "The Hill We Climb" poem at President Joe Biden's inauguration. Ever since then, the 23-year-old youth poet laureate has gone from strength to strength.
For example, in 2021 alone, her collection of poems "Call Us What We Carry" was a New York Times Bestseller, she was named on Time magazine 100 Next List under the category of "Phenoms" and she became the first poet to perform at the Super Bowl.
To end the year, Gorman has written a moving poem titled "New Day's Lyric," where she reflects on 2021 and intertwines themes of struggle, hope, and resilience.
Newsweek has the complete verses of the uplifting poem below.
Read Amanda Gorman's New Year's Poem 'New Day's Lyric' in Full
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren't ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren't aware, we're now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day's lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we've fought
Need not be forgotten nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
Gorman's "New Day's Lyric" was posted by Instagram on its official Instagram page, alongside a video of Gorman reciting the poem in an empty theater.
The video was captioned: "It's time to welcome 2022 with Amanda Gorman's (@amandascgorman) energy and her new, never-before-read poem."
Gorman reposted the video and also made her own moving post, where she urged readers to donate money to the International Rescue Committee to help those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
She also reflected on the year, stating that her latest poem aimed to "celebrate the new year and honor both the hurt and humanity of the last one."
In a lengthy post, Gorman wrote: "BIG NEWS!! I wrote A New Day's Lyric both to celebrate the new year & honor both the hurt & the humanity of the last one. To pay my words forward, I'm raising funds for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) @rescueorg whose response to the coronavirus pandemic and humanitarian crises provides lifesaving programs to vulnerable communities worldwide. Instagram has already pledged $50,000! Let's take donations even higher.
"You can give at the link, and/or share the fundraiser—even a little goes a long way. I'm always shy to quote my own poems, but I believe it in my bones when I say: Come, look up with kindness yet, for wherever we come together, we will forever overcome."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
