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Poem-a-Day

The only daily poetry series publishing new work by today’s poets.

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Poem-a-day

Hot Springs

for J.

Afloat out on the starlit water
where ordinary life’s a dream
as to two figures in a frame,
I touch the moon, and watch it shatter.

But when I touch you, you remain,
my body weightless in your arms
while quietly your hand conforms
to the hard griefs along my spine.

Beneath the sky’s unseeing eyes
I let my head rest in your palm,
making a little world of calm
for luck and longing to revise 

scenes too early to recall—
the frightened mouth, the soured breast,
abandoned den or splintered nest
resurfaced in the Lovers’ Pool.

Where our bodies intersect
like children whose fingers cross
to make a promise promise less
and guard this moment from the next.

And now before you disappear,
I’ve brought us once again to soak
in sulfur, salt, and arsenic,
so that in here, we’re always there.

Copyright © 2025 by Armen Davoudian. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 21, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Armen Davoudian

Armen Davoudian
Photo credit: Matthew Lansburgh
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Randall Mann is the Guest Editor of August. Read or listen to a Q&A with Mann about his curatorial process, and learn more about the 2025 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
She Returns to the Water Erin Belieu 03/25/2020
Another Strange Land: Downpour off Cape Hatteras (March, 1864) Aaron Coleman 03/24/2020
Gold Mountain Emily Yong 03/23/2020
Spring Morning Marion Strobel 03/22/2020
The 19th Amendment & My Mama Mahogany L. Browne 03/21/2020
Bloom (II) Dan Chiasson 03/20/2020
Migration Jenny George 03/19/2020
Driving to Work is a Spiritual Experience Emily Kendal Frey 03/18/2020
Knives Whistle Sherwin Bitsui 03/17/2020
A Miniature Mary Jo Bang 03/16/2020

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