"These Poems" by June Jordan

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend December 2, 2017   These Poems   June Jordan

These poems they are things that I do in the dark reaching for you whoever you are and are you ready?   These words they are stones in the water running away   These skeletal lines they are desperate arms for my longing and love.   I am a stranger learning to worship the strangers around me   whoever you are whoever I may become.            Copyright © 2017 June Jordan from We're On: A June Jordan Reader (Alice James Books, 2017). Used with permission of the publisher. About This Poem   "These Poems" originally appeared in Things That I Do in the Dark: Selected Poetry (Random House, 1977).   Click below to listen to an audio recording of June Jordan reading her poem at an Academy of American Poets event on March 31, 1992, held at the French Institute, Alliance française, in New York City.    June Jordan was born in 1936. Her many books include Kissing God Goodbye: Poems, 1991–1997 (Anchor Books, 1997) and Living Room: New Poems (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1985). We're On: A June Jordan Reader was published by Alice James Books in September. Jordan taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where she founded Poetry for the People. She died in 2002. Poetry by Jordan   We're On: A June Jordan Reader (Alice James Books, 2017) "How Do I Know When a Poem Is Finished?" by Naomi Shihab Nye "The Perfect Poem" by Kaveh Akbar "praise poets and their pens" by JP Howard Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! 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