understory (week 35) by Craig Santos Perez

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend July 22, 2014   understory (week 35)   Craig Santos Perez

“she’s kicking” nālani says holds my hands against her belly so warm! chicken broth boils in the crockpot bones turn in briny liquid—baby kicks again can she feel my body heat? magma rises water into steam—Kīlauea drill, turbine Mauna Loa grid, undersea cables—is geothermal safe? baby’s so active tonight nālani presses my palms deeper into this skin drum e Pele e            Copyright @ 2014 by Craig Santos Perez. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This poem is an excerpt from a weekly series of poems I wrote during my wife’s pregnancy. The title, ‘understory,’ refers to plants and young trees that grow beneath the main canopy of a jungle or forest.” —Craig Santos Perez   Craig Santos Perez is the author of from unincorporated territory [guma'] (Omnidawn Publishing, 2014). He teaches at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and lives in Mānoa. Most Recent Book by Santos Perez   from unincorporated territory [guma'] (Omnidawn Publishing, 2014) "Birth" by Tina Chang "Negotiations With a Volcano" by Naomi Shihab Nye "After Baby After Baby" Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038