一月二十号那天观看了总统Joe Biden的就职宣誓典礼。（The Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr）。在观看的过程中，听到了Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Garth Brooks 演唱的歌曲。之后走上台的是一位非常年轻的女诗人Amanda Gorman。她在大会上朗诵了一首美丽的长诗。她站在讲台上，神态镇静自若，脸上充满了朝气和自信，一双明亮的眼睛还会不时的环顾一下。在朗诵的时候，她的手势有时会随着诗歌的节拍挥动几下。她朗读的声音悦耳动听，且语气连贯， 整个一首长诗到了最后一气呵成。

  看来自己的听力还是不好，即使看着屏幕上的字幕还是跟不上。。。

  后来去网上查询，才知道这个年轻的诗人出生于1998年，今年22岁，她在哈佛大学学习社会学。是加州洛杉矶的诗人和活动家。她的工作集中在压迫，女权主义，种族和边缘化以及非洲侨民的问题上。她在2015年出版了诗集《食物不足的那个人》。在2021年，她在美国总统乔。拜登就职典礼上朗诵了自己写的这首诗《爬山》

  实在惭愧翻译的技能，所以只把这首英文诗原样转引在这里。

         “The Hill We Climb”

     When day comes we ask ourselves

     Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

     The loss we carry,

     A sea we must wade.

     We braved the belly of the beast;

     We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.

     And the norms and notions of what just is

     Isn’t always justice.

     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.

     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.

     And yes we are far from polished, far from pristine,

     But that doesn’t mean we aren’t striving to form a union that is perfect.

     We are striving to forge a union with purpose,

     To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

     And so we lift our gaze not to what stands between us,

     But what stands before us.

     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:

     That even as we grieved, we grew,

     That even as we hurt, we hoped,

     That even as we tired, we tried,

     That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious—

     Not because we will never again know defeat

     But because we will never again sow division.

     Scripture tells us to envision

     That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree,

      And no one shall make them afraid.

      If we’re to live up to our own time,

      then victory won’t lie in the blade but in all the bridges we’ve made.

      That is the promised glade,

      The hill we climb if only we dare it.

      Because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

      It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

      We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,

      Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

      And this effort very nearly succeeded,

      But while democracy can be periodically delayed

      It can never be permanently defeated.

      In this truth, in this faith we trust,

      For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

      This is the era of just redemption.

      We feared at its inception.

      We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,

      But within it we found the power

      To author a new chapter,

      To offer hope and laughter,

      To ourselves sow. While once we asked:

      How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

      Now we assert: How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

      We will not march back to what was,

      But move to what shall be,

      A country that is bruised but whole,

      Benevolent but bold,

      Fierce and free.

      We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation

      Because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.

      Our blunders become their burdens

      But one thing is certain:

      If we merge mercy with might and might with right,

      Then love becomes our legacy

      And change our children’s birthright.

      So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

      With every breath of my bronze pounded chest,

      We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

      We will rise from the golden hills of the West.

      We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.

      We will rise from the lakeland cities of the Midwestern states.

      We will rise from the sunbaked South.

      We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

      In every known nook of our nation,

      In every corner called our country,

      Our people, diverse and beautiful,

      Will emerge battered and beautiful.

      When day comes we step out of the shade,

      Aflame and unafraid.

      The new dawn blooms as we free it.

      For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it,

      If only we’re brave enough to be it.