Call Us What We Carry

by Amanda Gorman

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, It can never be permanently defeated.

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, Then love becomes our legacy, And change, our children’s birthright.

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

AMANDA GORMAN is the youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history.