If You Like a Strong Performance, Prada Coat Yellow, and Words as Power
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
VIOLETS’ PICKS 009
Where I found it
Amanda Gorman first caught my attention for being the first (and only) poet-by-trade with a Vogue cover. Also, for her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, recited for U.S. President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Also, for being the only poet that I knew of at the time with a modelling agent. (Are poets-slash-models the new It girl? More like It girls now need to be capable of more than just “it”-ness, and I’m all for that.)
Now, if you were a random stranger and I needed to make a bet on what you’ve read if you’ve read any modern poetry outside of obligatory school assignments from years now faded away, I’d bet on you having read Rupi Kaur or Amanda Gorman, both of whom I consider gateway poets into a much wider world of poetry for many people, especially young women.
Amanda topped the New York Times Bestseller List, was nominated for a Grammy, and most impressive of all, has Oprah’s personal telephone number. She’s also not shy about her desire to run for presidency one day, in 2036 to be exact, the first year she’ll be eligible. So after listening to her poem, I had to go find her book. What does a poet-turned-future-politician have to say? (Contrary to how opposite these two paths could seem, Amanda’s not the first: Obama was a former teen poet, with two published poems to his name. And why not? Words are power. The bigger question is: What are we using them for?)
First impressions
I have to admit, this cover isn’t quite what I pictured for Amanda Gorman the poet, having by now become acquainted with her work as one of the most well-known young poets who isn’t an Insta-poet (but who happens to have quite a sizable Instagram following). The cover was obviously designed to capitalize on her rising star: unlike most poetry books I’ve covered so far, “Amanda Gorman” is big, bright, and front and centre. In the background, ocean waves? Or is it ripped up paper? Water, this bright clear kind of water, if indeed that’s what it was, didn’t feel nearly bold enough for the Amanda I had come to know.
They said it
In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage. Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, this beautifully designed volume features poems in many inventive styles and structures and shines a light on a moment of reckoning. Call Us What We Carry reveals that Gorman has become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future.
—From the publisher
Lines to remember
Words matter, for Language is an ark. Yes, Language is an art, An articulate artifact. Language is a life craft. Yes, Language is a life raft. —From “What We Carry”
March shuddered into a year, Sloshing with millions of lonely. An overcrowded solitude. —From “At First”
Grief, like glass, can be both a mirror and a window… We become a window pain. —From “Report on Migration of Roes”
You might like this if…
You got real fired up hearing Amanda recite The Hill We Climb. (Watch it here if you haven’t already.) You love sounds and wordplay. You don’t need your poems to rhyme, but there’s something about sounds that go together, that flow together, that you love in lyrics and jingles. You want poems that don’t take maneuvering and mind-bending to understand. You, like me, are genuinely curious what an ambitious, power-full, successful young woman thinks about. You are interested in poetry with a perspective, with a voice, with things to say, not just poetry that sounds nice. You don’t want to just wallow in gooey feelings: you want words to help you feel sharper, stronger, clearer, inspired to take action not just be present in the moment. You want to hear someone other than old, white men talking about nature:
It’s something that I think is so important—and at times frustrating—to me, because when we think about “nature poetry,” I think traditionally it’s a very kind of white, male, hegemonic tradition of old white men on benches thinking about existentialism, and it’s completely removed and isolated from any kind of real profound question about race, equality … life.
—Amanda Gorman, as told to The Atlantic
This was the colour of…
The bright, crystalline blue of a cloudless sky. The confidence of Prada-coat yellow. Vibrancy, clarity, hope.
Details
Year: 2021
Author: Amanda Gorman, who started reciting poetry as a kid to help get over a speech impediment
Location: Los Angeles
Publisher: Viking Press
You’re reading Violets’ Picks, where every Sunday I take you through an adventure brought to you by a poetry collection. Here’s some other Violets’ Picks this month you may have missed:
