Gorman, only twenty-two years old when asked to write and read this poem to commemorate the inauguration of the next president. A poem that was penned during a tumultuous time, with Gorman's words reflective of that period.

"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.
...
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right,
Then love becomes our legacy,
And change, our children's birthright.
...
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."

We all lived through this too, but to encapsulate not only the agonizing days just after the election, the suspenseful days as we waited on a finalized count, and the devastation during the storming of the United States Capitol is quite the accomplishment. Not to mention how wonderfully Gorman managed, through all that acknowledgement of the shadows hanging over us, to somehow shine a light on hope for what's to come and joy for that day.