I was transfixed on the smiling poet delivering her poem with grace and poise at the Biden inauguration. Wearing a yellow coat, with red, she beamed and took the podium. When she spoke, I was speechless, mesmerized. Her name is Amanda Gorman, and her poetry is healing. Our nation needs a spoonful – perhaps a bottle full – of Amanda Gorman right now. You can read more about Amanda Gorman here and here. I’ve composed a Cento poem using Gorman’s lines from various poems, listed beneath the poem. Her words: Pay Attention. Learn from them. are words I will carry into the day.
We Rouse Ghosts
Even as we stand stone-still
we rouse ghosts ~
A grandma on a porch fingers her rosaries.
This truth, like the white-blown sky.
What endures isn’t always what escapes.
Pay attention.
Learn from them.
Taken from: The Shallows; Who We Gonna Call; The Miracle of Morning; & So; Cordage, or Atonement; Hephaestus; In the Deep
Common Threads 
A beautiful choice! I remember that inauguration day, when she took the podium and took my breath away. So poised, so poignant. I love the poem you have crafted today from her words….especially the lines: pay attention; learn from them. The ghosts that you and she are referencing are those who came before us — the ancestors who have so much to tell us, and, we, so much to learn from them. What endures from them? We do. And we must take that responsibility very seriously. We need to be the ones to ensure that the lessons learned in the past are not forgotten or left behind. Gorman is such a role-model for young women and writers. Thank you for sharing her today!
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Thank you, Giovanna! Yes, I wonder about what our ancestors think too.
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Your last line of the poem is valuable. As the time passes I am more and more inclined to think that as humans we are not very good at learning from the past. Gorman’s reading rippled to Estonia too. It inspired me to buy her book and watch her masterclass.
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Thank you, Terje! I’ll be that Masterclass was phenomenal.
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Lim,
I am so grateful for Amanda Gorman’s voice and all she’s done for poetry. She really has made loving poetry cool. And she’s always got her finger on the pulse of the country through her poetic responses in moments of crisis, such as recent ICE killings in Minnesota. Yes, “we rouse ghosts” and they are not happy w/ many these days. I need to revisit that collection you’re featuring.today. I bet it was hard to choose lines. There are so many perfect ones. I worry about what might endure from this era.
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I have often wondered what our forefathers would think if they could come back from the grave for a week. Scary.
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what a beautiful poem! I love Amanda Gorman too. I read this book a few years ago. I should revisit it with everything happening now.
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Thank you!
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A thought-provoking poem. I’m still pondering the line “What endures isn’t always what escapes.”
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Today, I enjoyed how your poem helped me to celebrate my ancestors, those strong women with their rosary beads. And of course, Amanda Gorman is in your month’s focus!! Lovely!!
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