After delivering a standing ovation worthy spoken word performance at the just concluded presidential inauguration, 22 year old black poet, Amanda Gorman, read the first poem ever to be performed at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Gorman read her original poem during the pregame festivities in Tampa, Florida. “Chorus of the Captains” is a tribute to three people for their contributions during the pandemic; educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner, and Marine veteran James Martin.
Gorman appeared in a taped video message that combined Gorman’s reading with images of Davis, Dorner and Martin.
“Poetry at the Super Bowl is a feat for art and our country, because it means we’re thinking imaginatively about human connection even when we feel siloed,” Gorman said Sunday on Twitter. “I’ll honor three heroes who exemplify the best of this effort. Here’s to them, to poetry and to a Super Bowl like no other.”
At 19, she became the country’s first Youth Poet Laureate.
This is Gorman’s poem in full:
“Let us walk with these warriors,
Charge on with these champions,
And carry forth the call of our captains.
We celebrate them by acting,
With courage and compassion,
By doing what is right and just.
For while we honor them today,
It is they who every day honor us.”
Amanda Gorman, previously the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, was the youngest person ever to recite a poem at the U.S. presidential inauguration with “The Hill We Climb” on January 20, 2021.
