"Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror" by Kelli Russell Agodon

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 3, 2019   Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror   Kelli Russell Agodon

The night sounds like a murder of magpies and we're replacing our cabinet knobs because we can't change the world, but we can change our hardware. America breaks my heart some days, and some days it breaks itself in two. I watched a woman have a breakdown in the mall today and when the security guard tried to help her what I could see was all of us peeking from her purse as she threw it across the floor into Forever 21. And yes, the walls felt like another way to hold us in and when she finally stopped crying, I heard her say to the fluorescent lighting, Some days the sky is too bright. And like that we were her flock in our black coats and white sweaters, some of us reaching our wings to her and some of us flying away.            Copyright © 2019 Kelli Russell Agodon. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 3, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About This Poem   "While reading an article about self-recognition in magpies, I began to also think of a conversation I had with my doctor about the increase of requests for anti-anxiety medication these days. I began to wonder—how do we respond to our fellow humans when they break down in front of us? Do we recognize ourselves in them? Or do we judge them for not being able to keep it together? Ultimately, I think it comes down to compassion—we have the choice to help or to leave, though my hope is we all try to take care of each other." —Kelli Russell Agodon   Kelli Russell Agodon is the author of Hourglass Museum (White Pine Press, 2014). She is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press, where she works as an editor and book cover designer, and lives in a seaside town outside of Seattle, Washington. Photo Credit: Ronda Broatch Poetry by Agodon   Hourglass Museum (White Pine Press, 2014) "Please Read" by Mary Ruefle "Palinode" by Monica Youn "To the Cardinal, Attacking His Reflection in the Window" by Leah Naomi Green May Guest Editor: Victoria Chang   Thanks to Victoria Chang, author of Barbie Chang (Copper Canyon Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Chang about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. 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