Call Us What We Carry

by Amanda Gorman

Grief commands its own grammar,

Call it, instead, an anchor, Grief grounding us in its sea.

That is to say, words Are how we are moored & unmarred.

Often we cannot change Without someone in us dying.

Our scars are the brightest Parts of us.

To be captive, then, is to be rendered a trope of oneself.]

It isn’t knowing, but remembering, that makes us create.

So when you’re told that your rage is reactionary, Remind yourself that rage is our right. It teaches us it is time to fight. In the face of injustice, Not only is anger natural, but necessary, Because it helps carry us to our destination.

Country of guns & germs & steal- ing land & life.

Again, language matters. Children have been taught—