Updated on 02/08/2021 07:41 am
American Amanda Gorman, the young poet who wowed President Joe Biden’s inauguration, opened the 55th edition of the Super Bowl on Sunday with an original poem in homage to key figures in the coronavirus pandemic.
At 22, Gorman was the first poet to participate in the final of the American football league (NFL), the great American sports spectacle and the most watched television broadcast in the country, with about 100 million viewers.
Gorman recited his poem “Chorus of the Captains” through a video broadcast on the screens of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (Florida), with some 25,000 people in the stands.
The play was a tribute to three people who were declared honorary captains in the Super Bowl drawing: an educator, an intensive care nurse and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
“They have taken the initiative / Exceeding all expectations and limitations / Elevating their communities and neighbors / As leaders, healers and educators”the young woman recited.
Gorman became a national figure in the United States after presenting his original work “The Hill We Climb” last January at Biden’s inauguration, a poem inspired by the shocking pre-Capitol attack.
Since then the sales of her works have skyrocketed to the top positions in the United States and she was even hired by the IMG Models agency for fashion campaigns.
“Poetry at the Super Bowl is a milestone for art and our country, because it means we are thinking imaginatively about human connection even when we feel isolated,” Gorman wrote on Twitter before the game.
Poetry at the Super Bowl is a feat for art & our country, because it means we’re thinking imaginatively about human connection even when we feel siloed. I’ll honor 3 heroes who exemplify the best of this effort. Here’s to them, to poetry, & to a #SuperBowl like no other 💛
– Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) February 7, 2021
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