The Dead-end of Resentment

Getting mixed up with the ancient way of thinking about talent is no way to succeed.

From the first moment I heard Amanda Gorman answering questions about her poetry and her early success, I was, in equal measure, full of admiration and resentment.

Amanda Gorman reciting her poem The Hill We Climb at the Jan. 20 Presidential Inauguraion. Photo by © AP

Compelling yet too famous, too early, Gorman shattered any easy notions I had about her and left me, a middle-aged writer, feeling split open…