Poem-a-Day - "The moon is sinking into shadow-land"

November 8, 2022

Emily Pauline Johnson, who also published under her paternal grandfather’s Mohawk name Tekahionwake (“double wampum”), was born on March 10, 1861, on the Six Nations Reserve, Canada West. Johnson published 165 poems during her lifetime. Read work published in Flint and Feather: The Complete Poems of E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) (The Musson Book Co., Limited, 1917).

“Moonset”
“The Song My Paddle Sings”
“Harvest Time”
“The Camper”
“Erie Waters”

“The Trail to Lillooet”
“Through Time and Bitter Distance”

“As a poet, I am compelled to document what flashes large and small around me, whether that means the ongoing assault on our reproductive rights or the geometry of dried leaves in the alley outside my window. There is so much to remember, to protect. Poetry can gather us into conversation with one another and with the times and landscapes whirring around us.”

Read a micro-essay by Emma Trelles, 2022 Poet Laureate Fellow, on how poetry can bring a community together.

“Land for me is a kind of worldview. It’s a way that we understand ourselves and understand the world around us.”

Jake Skeets is the author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers (Milkweed, 2019), which was selected by Kathy Fagan for the 2018 National Poetry Series and received the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Read and listen to Skeets discuss the Poem-a-Day curatorial approach and more on Poets.org.

“Poetry is a matter of life, not just
a matter of language.” —Lucille Clifton

Join us for Gather in Poems: a special reading and offering of community featuring Hanif Abdurraqib, Marie Howe, Tracy K. Smith, and Mai Der Vang along with other award-winning poets sharing works by Joy Harjo, Yusef Komunyakaa, Arthur Sze, and more. Thursday, November 17, at 7 p.m. ET. This free event will be presented as a live stream on YouTube with closed captioning provided. RSVP here.

#PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week

Check out our #PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week: Spirit of Structure, a conversation between Diedrick Brackens and Kameelah Janan Rasheed about the stages of making creative work, curated by Taylor Johnson, the Guggenheim’s inaugural Poet-in-Residence, a position presented in collaboration with the Academy of American Poets. This free program will be available to stream virtually beginning November 16. Learn more here.

Deadline Approaching: 2023 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize

The Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize is given to honor exceptional poems that help make real for readers the gravity of the vulnerable state of our environment. First place receives $1,000; second place, $750; and third place, $500. Winning poems will be featured in our popular Poem-a-Day series. The 2023 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize will be judged by climate scientist and author Dr. Peter Kalmus and poet Matthew Olzmann. Learn more and apply here by Tuesday, November 15, 2022 (11:59 p.m. ET).

Apply for the 2023 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award

The Harold Morton Landon Translation Award is a $1,000 award recognizing a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year. The 2023 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award will be judged by Anna Deeny Morales. Learn more and apply here by February 15, 2023 (11:59 p.m. ET).

Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, is seeking a full-time visiting assistant professor of English.
Cave Canem in Brooklyn, New York, is seeking a part-time, remote, administrative assistant for its cultural preservation project.

Revisit last week’s Poem-a-Day selections with us on Poets.org:

October 30: “The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare
October 31: “Lines Written During My Second Pandemic” by Eduardo C. Corral
November 1: “102” by Joaquín Zihuatanejo
November 2: “Inversion” by Michael McGriff
November 3: “Thank God for Hard Feelings” by Haesong Kwon
November 4: from “Far Country” by Kyce Bello
November 5: “Iris of Life” by Zitkála-Šá

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Kate Tufts Discovery A The Musson Book Co Six Nations Reserve Eyes Bottle Dark Emily Pauline Johnson E Pauline Johnson

Poem-a-Day - "The moon is sinking into shadow-land"

Key phrases

Older messages

"Deer’s Breath of Every Color" by Max Early

"Echo of Origin" by John James

"Truth Is Mortal" by Too-qua-stee

"Iris of Life" by Zitkála-Šá

from "Far Country" by Kyce Bello

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