Skip to main content
Poets.org

mobileMenu

  • Poems
  • Poets
  • Poem-a-Day
  • National Poetry Month
  • Materials for Teachers
  • Literary Seminars
  • American Poets Magazine

Main navigation

  • Poets.org
  • Academy of American Poets
  • National Poetry Month
  • American Poets Magazine

User account menu

  • Log in
  • Membership
  • Donate
Donate
Poets.org

Poem-a-Day

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

Page submenu block

  • find poems
  • find poets
  • poem-a-day
  • literary seminars
  • materials for teachers
  • poetry near you

Poem-a-day

Immigrant Song at a Food Truck

I touch your back with my dirty hands.
I open you.
I feel the growing heat
          between the sinews
            and the egg-white bun.
                       I eat the white of the bun.
                       I used to make cranes
                                   that you tossed away
                                               like promises
                                   in a severing winter.
                       I come to you in my dirty self, a poster
                                   full of deliberate errors
                                               made under duress
                                   by a young and willful staff.
                       Here I eat you. Here, a food truck
                                   sells sorrows in bun-sized bits, with you
                                               wrapped in newspaper articles
                                                           with jarring terms.
                                               I eat you whole, including
                                   the mayo on the photos, but soon
                       darkness drizzles, my image of you
            is a blur, my pen a bird in the air,
                       a uniformed officer smiles at me
            to scrape off even the salt in my hair
and dumps it back into the ocean.

Copyright © 2025 by Weija Pan. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 28, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

read the rest

Weijia Pan

Weijia Pan
Courtesy of Weijia Pan
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Tumblr
  • View print mode
  • Copy embed code
Add to anthology

Sign up for Poem-a-Day

* indicates required

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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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
Short Talk on Pain Anne Carson 08/25/2023
Exposition Lauren Russell 08/24/2023
Three of Cups Gabrielle Civil 08/23/2023
Agnes, a sleep Hannah Ensor 08/22/2023
Syrinx Spring Jennifer Scappettone 08/21/2023
The Humming-Bird Beatrice Ravenel 08/20/2023
Theodore the Poet Edgar Lee Masters 08/19/2023
Minotaur Douglas Kearney 08/18/2023
The Tell-Tale Heart Carlos Soto-Román 08/17/2023
Garden Variety with Lesbians Serena Chopra 08/16/2023

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 79
  • Page 80
  • Page 81
  • Page 82
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

Newsletter Sign Up

Support Us

  • Become a Member
  • Donate Now
  • Get Involved
  • Make a Bequest
  • Advertise with Us

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • SoundCloud
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Footer

  • poets.org

    • Find Poems
    • Find Poets
    • Poetry Near You
    • Jobs for Poets
    • Literary Seminars
    • Privacy Policy
    • Press Center
    • Advertise
  • academy of american poets

    • About Us
    • Programs
    • Prizes
    • First Book Award
    • James Laughlin Award
    • Ambroggio Prize
    • Chancellors
    • Staff
  • national poetry month

    • Poetry & the Creative Mind
    • Dear Poet Project
    • Poster
    • 30 Ways to Celebrate
    • Sponsorship
  • american poets

    • Books Noted
    • Essays
    • Advertise
© Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038
poets .org