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Poem-a-day

Who

Who are the other mammals
full of feathers
who miss their harsh
fathers like I do,

who collect leather pipes
& hoop dresses like I do,
who send their mothers
supermarket rose bouquets,

who prefer their bodies
ringed round with zippers?
Where are the other
animals that wallow

in purple fringed regret
like I do?
Who are the other mammals
with cloven cracked

chests who stitch
sharp darts
in their flesh like I do?
O, isn’t it a hopeless

loneliness of kitchens
when you don’t know
anyone
to give your everything to?

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Abe Louise Young

Poems

4 poems

I Decide to Tell Ghost Cowboy My Intentions

I’m writing
a love poem
even with
an American
boot to
my throat.

I lick the croony
sole and picture
you in a fresh white
wife pleaser.

C. Russell Price

2025

Trim

At the end

of the story,

we exchanged

hair. Two tiny

Ziploc bags,

little plastic

windows.

I sheared off

the tip

of my braid,

candlewick

Yalie Saweda Kamara

2025

I burned my life, that I might find
A passion wholly of the mind,
Thought divorced from eye and bone,
Ecstasy come to breath alone.
I broke my life, to seek relief
From the flawed light of love and grief.

Louise Bogan

1929

Night Was Done

Night was done. We rose and after
Washing, dressing,—kissed with laughter,—
After all, the sweet night knows.
Lilac breakfast cups were clinking
While we sat like brothers drinking
Tea,—and kept our dominoes.

Mikhail Kuzmin

1921

Poets

5 poets

Terrance Hayes

The 2010 winner of the National Book Award in poetry, Terrance Hayes is the author of seven poetry collections. He currently serves on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets.

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Danez Smith

Danez Smith is the author of Don’t Call Us Dead (Graywolf Press, 2017) and [insert] boy (YesYes Books, 2014).

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Jackie Wang

Jackie Wang is the author of the poetry collection The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void (Nightboat, 2021), which was longlisted for the National Book Award.

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Janice Mirikitani

Janice Mirikitani was born on February 4, 1941, in Stockton, California.

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Chen Chen

Chen Chen is the author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017).

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Features

Poetry & Shelter

2025 Poetry Coalition Programming

The Poetry Coalition, an alliance of nearly thirty independent poetry organizations across the United States, is presenting a series of progra

Praisesong for the People: Celebrating the Heart and Soul of Texas

What can poetry do? This is a question that pops up from time to time.

July 2025 Poem-a-Day Guest Editor Khadijah Queen

Listen to a short Q&A where Khadijah Queen discusses her curatorial process for Poem-a-Day.

Poem-a-Day Guest Editors in 2025

Since 2018, the Academy of American Poets has invited twelve new Guest Editors to each curate a month of

enjambments interview: Diana Arterian

As an ethos, I try to keep in mind that, as poets, we are the stewards of a holy art.

Announcements

July 2, 2025

New York, NY (July 2, 2025)—The Academy of American Poets announced that Ricardo Maldonado, President and Executive Director, will step down at the end of his second year in office.

June 17, 2025

New York, NY (June 17, 2025)—The Academy of American Poets, a leading champion of poets and poetry in the United States, announces former Academy Chancellor and celebrated poet Brenda Hillman as the judge o

June 10, 2025

New York, NY (June 10, 2025)—The Academy of American Poets, a leading champion of poets and poetry in the United States, announces Aaron Coleman as the judge of its 2026 Ambroggio Prize.

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Poem-a-day

Poems

Poets

Terrance Hayes

Danez Smith

Jackie Wang

Janice Mirikitani

Chen Chen

Features

Announcements

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