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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 Song [I was want]

I was want
ing the most
bare language
threaded bare
ly there a bar
on in english
everywhere I
went I langu
ished in a war
rent of a lang
uage I did or
did not want
once in ame
rica there w
as a language
we were guilt
y I spoke it y
ou were there

Copyright © 2026 by Jos Charles. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 25, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets. 

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Jos Charles

Jos Charles
Photo credit: Sergio de la Torre
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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
window on my part-time employer in the one building that was once two Sheila Maldonado 07/14/2021
From “The Laceration” Dawn Lundy Martin 07/13/2021
preface to a traffic stop: sound Randall Horton 07/12/2021
Wind Rising in the Alleys Lola Ridge 07/11/2021
In Summer Twilight Joshua Henry Jones Jr. 07/10/2021
remedies I S*an D. Henry-Smith 07/09/2021
What he thought belly down, when I was 8 years old Duriel E. Harris 07/08/2021
Born. Living. Will. Die. Camonghne Felix 07/07/2021
Everything Needs Fixing Karla Cordero 07/06/2021
the shoes Wo Chan 07/05/2021

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