Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate and Inaugural Visionary, was the best part of a wonderful day.
Her hands danced with the words that rose from her very heart into a clear blue sky. Hope was renewed and made visible in her 22 year old self.
And as I listened, I recalled another poet 28 years ago when Don and I had the audacity to take our seven and ten year old daughters to Bill Clinton’s first inauguration.
I do not remember what the newly minted president said, but I can hear to this day Maya Angelou’s voice ringing out the words On the Pulse of Morning …
Process note: the patch was cut from another beautiful piece of dyed cloth from Tina, the bottom edge of which was extended slightly after the photo was taken
I'm Going to Texas (version 2.0) 
Ok I did the math. Do you expect me to believe that M&M are 38 and 35? Nope. No. No. Nope.
De-nial is not just a river in Egypt.
LikeLike
Ha! Actually I rounded up … Meliss won’t be 35 until February 14th
LikeLike
She was Glorious. To a friend who couldn’t watch the ceremony (she was on-line teaching), I sent a link of Amanda’s reading and said, “The spirit of Maya lives on.”
LikeLike
Her generation is our best hope for the future
LikeLike
She is absolutely amazing .. in case you a as bd your readers aren’t aware Oprah had the ring a birdcage specifically made for Amanda to wear in remembrance of Maya who wrote I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. How totally cool is that. Oprah also gifted her the earrings that Amanda wore. How wonderful that you got to hear Maya in person .. a gentle soul indeed.
LikeLike
I didn’t know this … thank you for sharing it here
LikeLike
I was wondering about that ring and its story thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liz~ Just the most kind of wonderful. She made the world swoon and dream.
LikeLike
can’t say enough about her
LikeLike
she has such style and grace, her poem was perfect, there is so much hope in the air!
LikeLike
I have felt this hope before … after my first vote for a president in 1976 … when we went to the Clinton inaugural in 1993 … when we watched with the world as Obama took the oath of office in 2009 … many of those hopes were realized, but so many were not
LikeLike
LA – that young woman was/is the best – a message for hope and a message for the future right there. B
LikeLike
now to do the hard work of making it happen
LikeLike
“Simply unfinished.” That’s what I hold on to.
LikeLike
so much wisdom in her words … so much grace
LikeLike
She was wonderful! I keep thinking of so many couplets/doublets or whatever they may be that will stay in our minds – between us/before us; as we hurt, we hoped; brave enough to see it; brave enough to be it… astounding and simply shining. And yes we were uplifted and yes we now begin to make it real. How perfect that bright yellow hope arrived on her wings…
LikeLike
yellow is truly the color of hope
LikeLike