Poet Amanda Gorman Welcomes 2022 With Her 'New Day’s Lyric'

Poet Amanda Gorman is out with her new work, 'New Day’s Lyric', ending 2021 on a hopeful note.

Updated on: 31 December 2021 4:44 pm

Poet Amanda Gorman Welcomes 2022 With Her 'New Day’s Lyric'

At 22, Amanda Gorman became the youngest poet to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration. And just as the year draws to an end, Gorman is out with her new work, ending 2021 on a hopeful note.

Gorman, whose recitation of her own “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration made her an international sensation, has now released her new work, “New Day’s Lyric”, on Instagram.

“New Day’s Lyric” is a five-stanza poem with a 48-line resolution with themes of struggle and healing. The poem is part of her new bestselling collection “Call Us What We Carry,” which came out in early December.

Read part of Gorman’s poem transcribed by Instagram.

"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..."

Instagram shared a video of Gorman reciting the poem inside an empty theatre.

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Ahead of the release of her, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Gorman said that her poem was inspired by the stories of grief and perseverance throughout 2021.

Speaking to international media, Gorman offered an alliterative response when asked what inspired “New Day’s Lyric.” Gorman said that she “wanted to write a lyric to honor the hardships, hurt, hope and healing of 2021 while also harkening the potential of 2022.”

Gorman became the first national youth poet laureate in 2017.

In her Instagram post, Gorman urged readers to donate money to the International Rescue Committee to help those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has pledged $50,000.

(with inputs from AP)