Amanda Gorman's eloquent poetry at Joe Biden's presidential Inauguration soothed many Americans still reeling just two weeks after pro-Trump supporters staged an insurrection at the Capitol.
"We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation
and every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful."
This week, Gorman-the youngest Inaugural poet in U.S. history-is featured on TIME's cover, where the 22-year-old wears a bright yellow familiar from January's event.
Conceptual artist Awol Erizku captured Gorman for TIME in what he hoped would be a "very timely arrival portrait."
"I was interested in allowing her to own the space that she's in right now," Erizku says. "We were going for timelessness, something that felt classical" and tied in to the "resurgence of a Black renaissance."
