poets.org | Academy of American Poets

Poem-a-day

Come. Pray. Know

come. pray. know histories. today

is mother’s birthday. she insists on

dying. offer her a framed memory,

her maiden name clotted in a map older

than “america.” she will refuse, turn

away. grief sharpens the gales of wit.

again, she abandons.

a twice born girl knows to rotate a tomb,

suspend mother’s crude gape, temper

a piston with cane syrup. terror is the knotty

clutch of an umbilical cord, an archive pulsing

with the carriage

of empires.

read the rest

DaMaris B. Hill

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.

Read more about >

Danez Smith

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

Read more about >

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.

Read more about >

Janice Mirikitani

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

Read more about >

Chen Chen

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

Read more about >

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

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.

May 6, 2025

The Poetry Coalition—a national alliance of nearly thirty organizations working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture—is accepting applications for its 2025–26 Fellowship Program, open to

Page submenu block

Poem-a-day

Poems

Poets

Terrance Hayes

Danez Smith

Jackie Wang

Janice Mirikitani

Chen Chen

Features

Announcements

American Poets Magazine

Newsletter Sign Up