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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

A Poet

If I could be brave enough and live long enough I could crawl inside the life of every man, woman and child in America. After I had gone within them I could be born out of them. I could become something the like of which has never been seen before. We would see then what America is like.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on March 22, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Sherwood Anderson

Sherwood Anderson
Courtesy of Wikimedia
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Danusha Laméris is the Guest Editor for March. Read or listen to a Q&A with Laméris about his 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
Prologue of the Earthly Paradise William Morris
White Chairs Krystyna Dąbrowska, Karen Kovacik
Before Marching and After
Even in Gretna, Hearing the Cashier Talk, I Long for Gretna Alison Pelegrin
Afraid Langston Hughes
Not to Mention Love: A Heart for Patricia David Clewell
How heavy do I journey on the way (Sonnet 50) William Shakespeare
Laundry Alicia Ostriker
Counting, this New Year’s Morning, What Powers Yet Remain to Me Jane Hirshfield
Like Most Revelations Richard Howard

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