Books › The Hill We Climb
The Hill We Climb
80 pages
A soaring, rhythmic call to action that transforms national grief into a luminous vision of collective hope.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like standing in a sudden burst of sunlight after a long, dark storm. The pacing is steady and rhythmic, demanding to be read aloud so the spoken-word cadences can fully resonate. It wraps the reader in an atmosphere of earnest reflection and luminous hope, acknowledging the heavy burdens of history and recent collective grief while refusing to surrender to despair. The language is accessible yet deeply musical, relying on internal rhyme and soaring rhetoric to build a sense of urgent civic duty. It is a perfect match for anyone seeking a restorative, unifying reading experience, offering a powerful reminder of resilience and the enduring promise of a better, shared future.
- Mood
- uplifting
- reflective
- luminous
- resonant
- Tone
- earnest
- hopeful
- stirring
- urgent
- resolute
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- collective healing · democratic promise · historical reckoning · resilience · the power of youth
- The writing
- Lyrical, rhythmic, and highly accessible, driven by spoken-word cadence and internal rhyme.
- The arc
- Moves from acknowledging deep national grief and division to a soaring, unified vision of hope and action.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking inspiration, civic hope, and accessible, socially conscious poetry.
Content notes
- pandemic grief
- racism
- political division
About the book
The presidential inaugural poet--and unforgettable new voice in American poetry--presents a collection of poems that includes the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States.
Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage. Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, her poems shine a light on a moment of reckoning and reveal that Gorman has become a messenger from the past, our voice for the future. The final poem in the book is The hill we climb, which was read at President Joseph Biden's 2021 inauguration. -- adapted from jacket and perusal of book
Description from Open Library.
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