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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

Summer City

In my damp inseam, the weather creases low and smooth.
Down the back and underneath the levy of legs. Tender

is the escape of water & salt—I jury to this known monument.
The camera washes the window, pushes the sheer orange

curtain away. In effect, it creates this timeline. That
I am currently a part of, like a lonely spider. It strikes.

There are these exhausting trips from
here to there: wasted time & the feeling
that everything is just the way it’s supposed to be.

You haven’t lived up to anything
and You haven’t lived at all.
Cursing dumb decisions like a plate of bad food

& then suddenly,
the begging silence
of how everything is now,
in this exact moment it appeared to me.

But, it goes cold and hardens.

It’s just a reminder:

every sentence is an ending and it is not.
There’s another sentence expected after it.

Copyright © 2026 by travis l. tate. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 22, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.

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travis l. tate

travis l. tate
Courtesy of travis l. tate
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Sam Sax is the Guest Editor for June. Read or listen to a Q&A with Sax about their 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
Self-Care Is a Psy-Op Jameka Williams 06/02/2023
New Moon Newton Oliver Baez Bendorf 06/01/2023
Time-Sensitive Franny Choi 05/31/2023
In the chemo room, I wear mittens made of ice so I don’t lose my fingernails. But I took a risk today to write this down. Andrea Gibson 05/30/2023
From “Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return” CAConrad 05/29/2023
Substance, Shadow, and Spirit Tao Yuanming 05/28/2023
The Wild Swans Li Qingzhao 05/27/2023
Writing Prompt Michael Torres 05/26/2023
Nearly all my friends call me spoiled and ungrateful. Perry Janes 05/25/2023
HomeGoods Janice Lobo Sapigao 05/24/2023

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