"Vesuvius" by Noah Eli Gordon

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 30, 2019   Vesuvius   Noah Eli Gordon

It was at first fire Then volcanoes Now the latest fear keeping My daughter's door open Through the night Is that of being afraid Is there a narrator in this show She asks as the authority  Of the voiceover in the cartoon Loses what I imagine as credibility In her six-year-old mind It's a creation myth The one she's watching Because it was intentional For months before her conception I was afraid of having sex As though there's an answer That would eclipse this New-found complication How can I not be scared Of being scared she asks Never trust the authority Of the narrator I want To tell her but I'd be lying            Copyright © 2019 Noah Eli Gordon. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 30, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About This Poem   "This poem's aboutness is there, right there, on the surface. It's a talisman. I wrote it to project into the world my desire to protect my daughter, to empower her with the ability to protect herself. And yet, I think the poem also asks if creating something else—whether it's a work of art or a child—is an amplification or destruction of one's I?" —Noah Eli Gordon   Noah Eli Gordon is the author of ten collections of poetry, including Novel Pictorial Noise (Harper Perennial, 2007), which was selected by John Ashbery for the National Poetry Series. He teaches at the University of Colorado–Boulder and lives in Denver, Colorado. Poetry by Gordon   Is That the Sound of a Piano Coming from Several Houses Down? (Solid Objects, 2018) "For the Child's Mole" by Geffrey Davis "Return" by Dorianne Laux "Father's Song" by Gregory Orr August Guest Editor: Ruth Ellen Kocher   Thanks to Ruth Ellen Kocher, author of Third Voice (Tupelo Press, 2016), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Kocher about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Your Support Makes Poem-a-Day Possible   Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. This free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on the weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. 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