NEW YORK (AP) – Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who rocked the United States under President Joe Biden last month, once again led the spotlight on one of the country’s biggest stages, the Super Bowl.
Gorman read an original poem on Sunday during the pre-game festivities in Tampa, Florida. The poem, entitled “Chorus of the Captains”, was a tribute to three people for their contributions during the pandemic: educator Trimaine Davis, managing nurse Suzie Dorner and Navy veteran James Martin.
Gorman did not play in the field, but appeared in a recorded video message which combined Gorman’s reading with images from Davis, Dorner and Martin. Gorman recited:
“We are going to walk with these warriors,
Continue with these champions,
And fulfill the call of our captains.
We celebrate them by acting,
With courage and compassion,
Doing what is right and fair.
While we honor you today,
They are the ones who honor us every day. “
The fact that Gorman brought poetry to the Super Bowl was an almost unthinkable collision of grace and brilliance. But if the Super Bowl, an annual rite of excess, was an unlikely platform for a poet, it showed how much Gorman has conquered the country’s spotlight since its inauguration.
Gorman, previously the country’s first National Young Poet Laureate, was the youngest person to recite a poem in the US presidential inauguration. Your reading of “The Hill We Climb” on the Capitol it immediately became a sensation. An illustrated book of his poem quickly reached the top of the bestseller lists. Shortly after the inauguration, she signed with IMG Models, an agency that represents supermodels, tennis star Naomi Osaka and playwright Jeremy O. Harris. This week, she covers Time magazine in an interview with Michelle Obama.
Gorman’s appearance in the Super Bowl was planned before the inauguration. She seemed to understand the impropriety of her pre-game reading, the first in Super Bowl history. And with potentially 100 million viewers on the CBS broadcast, it generated a very popular poetry recital.
“Poetry in the Super Bowl is a feat for art and for our country, because it means that we think imaginatively about human connection even when we feel isolated,” Gorman said Sunday on Twitter. “I will pay tribute to three heroes who exemplify the best of this effort. A toast to them, poetry and a Super Bowl like no other. “