California Poet Amanda Gorman Delivers a Moving Inaugural Poem

With a poem specifically written for the occasion, poet Amanda Gorman drew resounding admiration at President Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.

“The theme for the inauguration in its entirety is ‘America United,’ so when I heard that was their vision, that made it very easy for me to say, great, that’s also what I wanted to write about in my poem, about America united, about a new chapter in our country,” she told The New York Times. “There is space for grief and horror and hope and unity, and I also hope that there is a breath for joy in the poem, because I do think we have a lot to celebrate at this inauguration.”

Raised in West Los Angeles, the 22-year-old Harvard graduate became the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate at age 19. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden remembered the young poet from an event at the Library of Congress and recommended her for the ceremony.