Academy of American Poets

5/12/26 “It would be enough for me to die, here, on her soil, Be buried deep in the earth of my country, Only to sprout forth again as a bright bloom, Waved gently by a child who calls this land home.” @AIbsais

“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.” So they took it away, and were married next day By the turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon. —Edward Lear, born #OTD in 1812 poets.org/poem/owl-and-p…

Starts next week. Emily Wilson’s Iliad seminar begins May 18. Space is limited. Register: bit.ly/4dUyXmy

Not the blue the orthodoxy of the day But a blue like intuition The soft of the night into morning Felt here. remembered Under the hoofs of the cart —Kamau Brathwaite, born #OTD in 1930 poets.org/poem/mesongs

Have you listened to “Aubade on Piazza del Popolo with Saxophonist and Chopin” by Ashna Ali on our daily #PoemADay podcast? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poe…

5/11/26 “He grew me into something else, this boy. Something no longer a child. Stale smoke on the morning air, a tang of espresso beans.”⁠

She lay so still that as she spoke a spider spun a seamless web upon her body as we spoke and then her limbs came loose one by one and so my own —Michael Palmer, born #OTD in 1942 poets.org/poem/republic-…

Oh, if instead she’d left to me The thing she took into the grave!— That courage like a rock, which she Has no more need of, and I have. —Edna St. Vincent Millay #MothersDay poets.org/poem/courage-m…

i got a dog  i got a cat  i got a rat  i got cockroaches  and guess what  i have more trouble  out of you  than i have  out of them —Jayne Cortez, born #OTD in 1934 poets.org/poem/bleecker-…

when did we become friends? it happened so gradual i didn’t notice maybe i had to get my run out first take a big bite of the honky world and choke on it maybe that’s what has to happen with some uppity youngsters if it happens at all and now the thought stark and irrevocable of being here without you shakes me —Wanda Coleman #MothersDay poets.org/poem/dear-mama…

Have you listened to “Forever Plastics” by Ronald Carson on our daily #PoemADay podcast? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poe…

5/10/26 “We are the call coming from inside the house. We are the house.”

What use are books to me When in you it is possible to read The Gospel of my life on earth And still beyond, of things to come? I want to proclaim the religion I have devised for your perfect humility And the strange church I am building With you as the altar. —Charles Simic, born #OTD in 1938 poets.org/poem/my-shoes

Have you listened to “The Quiet Shift” by Anita Nahal on our daily #PoemADay podcast? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poe…

5/9/26 “Something in me presents like solid linen while something drifts like silk in tousled winds.”

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks. Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite. —Joy Harjo, born #OTD in 1951 poets.org/poem/perhaps-w…

Academy Chancellor Ed Roberson gives notes on the magic of poetry, metaphor, and the connection between his poems “a graphic” and “line.” Watch the whole lecture here: bit.ly/48Ju9g3

I guess the music fooled you: you thought we’d keep the party going even to the edge of the abyss. Well, too bad. It’s all yours now. Good luck on the ramparts. What you want to watch for is when the sky shakes itself free of kites and flies away. Have a nice day. —Eleanor Lerman poets.org/poem/sure-my-l…

Have you listened to “Daughter” by Gabrielle Bates on our daily #PoemADay podcast? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poe…

5/8/26 “Taking my pain in and in. Like a lover after a too-long, anguished absence”