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

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Poem-a-day

The Bridge

Once there was a bridge I couldn’t cross. 
Cusp of summer. Sound of insects
carried with me, from Melville’s fields
in my-heart-on-the-bridge, their zzzz.

Year’s end, now. A theory of edges. A vow
to complete certain tasks—they will not
improve me, but dissipate, burn off 
like vapor. I’ve already been too good.

I thought keys would fly out of my pocket 
and then I would have to fly after, 
to enter the terrifying room 
where things blow away to.

Scraps of lists, a paper flower,
the raspberry clouds of the day’s 
attenuation. A series of signs said 
help was there, but not for me.

Copyright © 2025 by Elisa Gabbert. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 21, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Elisa Gabbert

Elisa Gabbert
Courtesy of Adalena Kavanagh
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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
The Airman Who Flew Over Shakespeare’s England Hyam Plutzik
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What Space Faith Can Occupy TC Tolbert
Self-Portrait in the Bathroom Mirror Mary Jo Bang
Prayer in the Desert Ameen Rihani
27,000 Miles Albert Goldbarth
America (Assateague) Kathleen Graber
An Island Willis Barnstone
Sacrament Countee Cullen
Freedom, Revolt, and Love Frank Stanford

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