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Poem-a-day

Daniel’s Response to Jet, or Why Do You Trust Her?

Written in Daniel’s voice, when asked why he trusts Heca and the unborn baby with special powers

Who would believe we both framed and hung Bearden’s “Jammin’ at the Savoy” on our separate walls long before we even met?? The mostly primary colors exploding as jazz men work carbon fingers to the bone, frenzied beyond language and no one looks up, no conductor needed, because they’re wrapped in the kind of duende Lorca speaks of—an avalanche of quarters and eighths that coalesce into a groove we both comprehend (since maybe she’s the trumpet and I’m the piano, or maybe she’s the guitar strings and I’m the trumpet sending notes back up into the sky hoping Gabriel will hear), but either way the sun-like orb gleams down and considering we both believed in this stronger than the balm of psalms said on our wedding day, I’ll keep my faith in her, in us, and in Bearden’s cobalt steady bluein’.

Copyright © 2026 by Celeste Doaks. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 14, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets. 

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Photo credit: Da’Rrell Privott
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About Poem-a-Day

Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Dorianne Laux is the Guest Editor for April. Read or listen to a Q&A with Laux about his curatorial process, and learn more about the 2026 Guest Editors. Support Poem-a-Day.  

If you have any questions about Poem-a-Day, visit our Poem-a-Day FAQ.

Previous Poems

Title Author Date
Sappho Sara Teasdale 06/04/2023
Recitative Hart Crane 06/03/2023
Self-Care Is a Psy-Op Jameka Williams 06/02/2023
New Moon Newton Oliver Baez Bendorf 06/01/2023
Time-Sensitive Franny Choi 05/31/2023
In the chemo room, I wear mittens made of ice so I don’t lose my fingernails. But I took a risk today to write this down. Andrea Gibson 05/30/2023
From “Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return” CAConrad 05/29/2023
Substance, Shadow, and Spirit Tao Yuanming 05/28/2023
The Wild Swans Li Qingzhao 05/27/2023
Writing Prompt Michael Torres 05/26/2023

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