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

The New Normal

translated from the Catalan by AKaiser

We will sink our feet into other sands,
in the new normal. We will grow plants
between our toes, in the new normal.
 
We will laugh at the distances
and it will be forbidden to not touch us,
in the new normal.
 
Our calendars will seem strange
and we won’t know what the rules are,
in the new normal.
 
There’ll be caves
and space for everyone.
There’ll be lichens
and hunger well-whetted.
 
We’ll embrace all the mysteries,
we’ll be lovers of the invisible
and death, death
will be quite bearable.
 
When winter comes
the mud will come and with the mud
creation unleashed
and we will draw the whole holy day,
in the new normal.
 
We’ll yank flowers from the rocks
and let pigment run
and we’ll paint our faces, also our thighs,
also our sexes and the hot thing, too.
 
We’ll look at the sky more than anything else,
in the new normal.
 
We will breathe very slowly,
in the new normal.
 
And who knows if the gods won’t find us
and we’ll have to create new altars with twigs
and make a roaring fire and roast fish
and dance barefoot until it hurts.
 
Pain not in the feet, but in our bellies,
from so much inconsumable joy.

 


 

La nova normalitat

 

Enfonsarem els peus en una altra sorra,
a la nova normalitat. Ens creixeran plantes
entre els dits, a la nova normalitat.
 
Ens riurem de les distàncies
i estarà prohibit no tocar-nos,
a la nova normalitat.
 
Se’ns faran estranys els calendaris
i no sabrem què són les restriccions,
a la nova normalitat.
 
Hi haurà coves
i espai per a totes.
Hi haurà líquens
i la fam ben oberta.
 
Abraçarem tots els misteris,
estarem amatents a l’invisible
i la mort, la mort
serà ben suportable.
 
Quan vingui l’hivern
vindrà el fang i amb el fang
la creació desfermada
i dibuixarem tot el sant dia,
a la nova normalitat.
 
Picarem les flors damunt les roques
perquè deixin anar el pigment
i ens pintarem les cares, també les cuixes,
també els sexes i allò calent.
 
Mirarem el cel més que cap altra cosa,
a la nova normalitat.
 
Respirarem molt lentament,
a la nova normalitat.
 
I qui sap si els déus no ens troben
i hem de crear nous altars amb branquillons
i fer un bon foc i torrar-hi peixos
i dansar descalços fins que ens faci mal.

Mal no als peus, sinó al ventre,
de tanta alegria que no sabrem com pair.

Copyright © 2026 by Anna Gual, translated by AKaiser. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 17, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.

read the rest

Anna Gual

Anna Gual
Photo credit: Sílvia Servat
  • 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. Maya C. Popa is the Guest Editor for September. Read or listen to a Q&A with Maya about her 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
He Prefers Her Earthly Thomas Hardy 06/06/2015
Kiss Over Zero George David Clark 06/05/2015
Florida Doll Sonnet Denise Duhamel 06/04/2015
Charlie Parker (1950) Campbell McGrath 06/03/2015
Is It Better Where You Are? Christopher Salerno 06/02/2015
Men as Friends Robin Becker 06/01/2015
Squall Leonora Speyer 05/31/2015
Potpourri Lola Ridge 05/30/2015
Spark of the Sky Stag’s Great Heart Sarah Messer 05/29/2015
Want Katrina Roberts 05/28/2015

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 410
  • Page 411
  • Page 412
  • Page 413
  • …
  • 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
    • Sponsorship
  • american poets

    • Books Noted
    • Essays
    • Advertise
© Academy of American Poets, 195 Broadway 9th Floor, New York, NY 10007
poets .org