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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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
Vendor of Green Coconuts Muna Lee 08/31/2024
Puerto Ricans in the White House Karl Michael Iglesias 08/30/2024
Anthills Kayla “AluTru” Steward 08/29/2024
Past Present & Future Alero “The Mimz” Ogisi 08/28/2024
Drill Jada Renée Allen 08/27/2024
The Black Outside Joy Priest 08/26/2024
Matins Jeanne D’Orge 08/25/2024
[Say what you will, and scratch my heart to find] Edna St. Vincent Millay 08/24/2024
Ode to Aging Bodies Jan Mandell 08/23/2024
Fable with Cyst, Celestial Being & Sacrifice Alafia Nicole Sessions 08/22/2024

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 42
  • Page 43
  • Page 44
  • Page 45
  • …
  • 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