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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

Why Say That

why say that 
under 
what authority 
do you mean 
seeing 
who sees

a lifelike figure 
struck by 
lightning or coincidence 
a man 
open 
in his pockets 
in an empty room

outside 
seen from the inside 
is complex 
outside 
looking towards the inside 
is simple

~~

what penetrates him

a nice day?

with a wave with a waste 
of his hands

folderollicles away 
down

Mr. janitor 
jingles

desperate

I’ll monster you with my

ruff 
rough ruff

~~

I find myself

smiling

cat in sun

pleasure

like a little animal

comes up

like a big animal

chin glistening

yellow in the day

blue at night

Copyright © 2025 by Fiona Templeton. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 22, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Fiona Templeton

Fiona Templeton
Courtesy of Hugo Glendinning
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Khadijah Queen is the Guest Editor of July. Read or listen to a Q&A with Queen about her 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
Nightstick [A Mural for Michael Brown] Kevin Young 04/15/2018
Assault Edna St. Vincent Millay 04/15/2018
Wolf’s Trees J. D. McClatchy 04/14/2018
A Young Man Jericho Brown 04/14/2018
Essay on the One Hand and on the Other James Richardson 04/13/2018
Ceremony for Remembering the Doorless World Aracelis Girmay 04/12/2018
God Letter CM Burroughs 04/11/2018
Poem Full of Worry Ending with My Birth Tarfia Faizullah 04/10/2018
Overnight John Yau 04/09/2018
The Armadillo Elizabeth Bishop 04/08/2018

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