The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country

Maybe not quite as powerful and evocative between covers as when we watched the author recite it at the inauguration, but still a wonderful poem. Recommend reading it out loud. And much look forward to more from this brilliant poet.

Just a perfect explication of the American ideal. Brought me to tears live, glad to have a copy.

Watching Amanda Gorman perform this at Joe Biden's inauguration made me tear up - reading it now is still just as powerful as hearing it for the first time. I am in awe that a 22 year old wrote such a powerful and transcendent poem that will long be hailed as a masterpiece. It's a dream, a

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manifesto, a plea, and a prayer. Her poem encapsulates our country's past, present, and future. I can't wait to follow this young poet's career and read more of her works. Awe-inspiring doesn't even begin to give her enough credit. She's a marvel.

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When I heard this, one year ago today, I teared up at its beauty. Reading it on it's anniversary, I teared up again! Gorman is amazing, and this poem is perfect. Like this line, which I was in awe of when I first hear it - "And the norms and notions of what "just is" Isn't always justice." Wow.

I

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hope our country can realize the ideas she puts forth herein. I hope we're on the road to recovery, and not headed for a road to ruin. Like Ms. Gorman ends her poem -

"If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it."

Amen.

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I enjoyed this so much.

I was intending to wait until Gorman's collection of poetry came out this fall, but when I saw the stacks and stacks of this sunshiny book on the tables at the bookstore, I couldn't resist. It did feel a little silly, buying a hardcover book of a single poem, and such a short one at that. But it is

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also a placeholder, a souvenir, a cup to store some fragment of the feeling of watching her amazing performance on that day.

I have bought books for far stupider reasons, is what I am saying.

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Saw her original reading on televised inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021 of Joe Biden. She was awesome and inspiring

This poem is just as powerful 8 months later as it was when Gorman first recited it. I think I will be coming back to it frequently whenever I need a reminder of hope and the relief I felt watching the inauguration.

I distinctly remember being blown away by the author's recital during the inauguration, and I watched it on YouTube today before reading the poem slowly to appreciate it in a different way. Even if the world on the whole seems to have changed for the worse and not for the better since then, to me

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the poem is still perfect, both in its form and language and in its message. Reading it slowly in a book made me appreciate the rhythm, the alliterations and the word play even more.

As for the message, I want to quote the ending of the poem:

For there is always light,
If only we are brave enough to see it,
If only we are brave enough to be it.

This resonates with me even more today than three years ago.

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