We Will Rise | Study for a portrait of Amanda Gorman

We will rise from the golden hills of the west. We will rise from the windswept northeast, where our ancestors first carried out the revolution. We will rise from the lakes-fringed cities of the Midwest states. We will rise from the sunny south. We will rebuild, reconcile and recover. In every known corner of our nation, in every corner called our country, our people, different and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful. When the day comes, we step out of the shadows, on fire and fearless. The new dawn blossoms as we release it. Because there is always light, if only we were brave enough to see it. If only we were brave enough to be.

Amanda Gorman