US inauguration: Amanda Gorman captures the moment, in verse 20 Jan, 2021 05:56 PM 6 minutes to read US inauguration: Amanda Gorman captures the moment, in verse. Video / AP New York Times By: Alexandra Alter The youngest inaugural poet in US history read a work she finished after the riot at the Capitol. "I'm not going to in any way gloss over what we've seen," she said. About two weeks ago, poet Amanda Gorman was struggling to finish a new work titled The Hill We Climb. She was feeling exhausted, and she worried she wasn't up to the monumental task she faced: composing a poem about national unity to recite at President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.