New Day’s Lyric: Amanda Gorman Releases an Inspiring Ode to the New Year

To say Amanda Gorman has had a big year would be an understatement. In January, America’s first Youth Poet Laureate took the dais—and stole the show—at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration with her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” But that was just the beginning; within a week, she was signed by IMG Models and confirmed to recite an original piece at Super Bowl LV. Gorman then kicked off Black History Month as the cover star for Time magazine’s Black Renaissance issue; in March, her inaugural poem became an instant No. 1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller. In May, Gorman helped welcome back the Met Gala as one of the its confirmed co-chairs. A week before the September gala, she was named a global changemaker for legacy cosmetics brand Estée Lauder; a week after, she released her first children’s book and second bestseller, Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem.

As December dawned, Gorman scored a trifecta, earning her third instant bestseller with Call Us What We Carry: Poems. But ahead of the new year, the prolific poet has bestowed another gift upon her now-expansive fanbase, releasing her latest poem, “New Day’s Lyric,” exclusively on Instagram.

Per a press release to The Root: “The ethereal and inspiring poem captures 2021 in verses that reflect on the lessons the year taught us, the importance of community, and the hopeful future we await.” Styled by Jason Bolden in a white, one-shouldered gown by Cong Tri with her braids elegantly styled in an updo by Malika Palmer, Gorman reminds us why she instantly captured America’s attention, as she gives an evocative performance of her newest work.

Gorman explained the poem’s inspiration on (where else?) Instagram :

I wrote A New Day’s Lyric both to celebrate the new year & honor both the hurt & the humanity of the last one. To pay my words forward, ➡️I’m raising funds for the International Rescue Committee⬅️ (IRC) @rescueorg whose response to the coronavirus pandemic and humanitarian crises provide lifesaving programs to vulnerable communities worldwide 🌎❤️. Instagram has already pledged $50,000! Let’s take donations even higher. You can give at the link, and/or share the fundraiser —even a little goes a long way. I’m always shy to quote my own poems, but I believe it in my bones when I say: Come, look up with kindness yet, for wherever we come together, we will forever overcome 💛🙏🏿.

As noted, “New Day’s Lyric” will raise money for humanitarian aid organization the International Rescue Committee, to help aid those affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instagram parent company Meta is also donating $50,000 to the organization. You can read Gorman’s latest poem in full below:

New Day’s Lyric

May this be the dayWe 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 learningThat though we weren’t ready for this,We have been readied by it.We steadily vow that no matterHow 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.

What was cursed, we will cure.What was plagued, we will prove pure.Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;Those moments we missedAre now these moments we make,The moments we meet,And our hearts, once all together beaten,Now all together beat.

Come, look up with kindness yet,For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,But to take on tomorrow.

We heed this old spirit,In a new day’s lyric,In our hearts, we hear it:For auld lang syne, my dear,For auld lang syne.Be bold, sang Time this year,Be bold, sang Time,For when you honor yesterday,Tomorrow ye will find.Know what we’ve foughtNeed not be forgot nor for none.It defines us, binds us as one,Come over, join this day just begun.For wherever we come together,We will forever overcome.