poets.org | Academy of American Poets

Poem-a-day

for goldfish that remember seaworld

near 67th avenue, street of neon says jesus saves
and I dream each night, about losing you
to routine traffic stops—where bullets turn
off body cams and graffiti makes you landmark

at this hour, consider what a goldfish would do
to escape sea world. fish scales tweezed off
carnival acts. fish scales for a bus ticket. Fish
scales for a new apartment away from a street of neon

at sea world, an orca bloodies water. tilikum turned
water to a brand disaster, jesus of an enclosed sea.
michelle was jesus of crossed legs and summers
we turned pretty

everyone knew how shiny gold scales made meat—
including adults. including the sea world employees
that trained us tricks. jump through fire, eat from
hands, circle circle round as areolas

business men spent their savings on streets of neon
jesus tried to save us, too

read the rest

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
     And he said:
     Your children are not your children.
     They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
     They come through you but not from you,

Kahlil Gibran

1923

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be

Naomi Shihab Nye

1995

Let America Be America Again

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Langston Hughes

1994

As I Walked Out One Evening

As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
‘Love has no ending.

W. H. Auden

1940

Poets

5 poets

Langston Hughes

A poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright, Langston Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties and was important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance.

Read more about >

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. While she was extremely prolific as a poet and regularly enclosed poems in letters to friends, she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. She died in Amherst in 1886, and the first volume of her work was published posthumously in 1890.

Read more about >

Robert Frost

One of the most celebrated figures in American poetry, Robert Frost was the author of numerous poetry collections, including New Hampshire (Henry Holt and Company, 1923). Born in San Francisco in 1874, he lived and taught for many years in Massachusetts and Vermont. He died in Boston in 1963.

Read more about >

Kahlil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet, was born January 6, 1883, in Bsharri, Lebanon.

Read more about >

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928.

Read more about >

Features

The Eaton Fire: One Poet Shares His Journey

I thought, at seventy-seven, the best of my poetry was behind me, and the future would hold diminishing output. Then the Eaton Fire erupted with its unfathomable winds of one hundred miles per hour.

June 2026 Poem-a-Day Guest Editor Sam Sax

Listen to a short Q&A where Sam Sax discusses their curatorial process for Poem-a-Day.

Poem-a-Day Guest Editors in 2026

The 2026 cohort of Guest Editors are all award-winning poets who represent wide-ranging expertise and editorial perspectives. Learn more about them below.

Poetry & the Creative Mind 2026 | Archived Event

Celebrate with Us

Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:30 p.m. ET | Virtual Free and open to all. Registration required for virtual program access.

Announcements

June 9, 2026

Talebi receives the $1,000 prize for translating "Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems" by Ahmad Shamlou from Persian into English

April 28, 2026

Academy of American Poets announces a legacy gift from the Louise Bogan Charitable Trust to establish an endowed award that recognizes and supports outstanding poet-critics and their contributions to American poetry.

April 21, 2026

The Academy of American Poets Announces the Winners of the 2026 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize. Winning poems by Malia Maxwell, W.J. Herbert, Ronald Carson, and Deahna Fumarol to appear in Poem-a-Day.

Poem-a-day

for goldfish that remember seaworld

D’mani Thomas

Poems

On Children

Kindness

Let America Be America Again

As I Walked Out One Evening