[thread in 12: The hill we climb — @theAmandaGorman]

When day comes, we ask ourselves
where can we find light
in this neverending shade?

The loss we carry a sea we must wade.
We've braved the belly of the beast.
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace.

1/12

In the norms and notions of what just is
isn’t always just is.
And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it!
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.

2/12

We, the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny black girl descended from slaves
and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.

Yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,
but that doesn’t mean..

3/12

... we are striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge our union with purpose
to compose a country committed
to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.

So we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us!

4/12

We close the divide because we know
to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.

5/12