"Preparing for Residential Placement for My Disabled Daughter" by Jennifer Franklin

March 10, 2023

Preparing for Residential Placement for My Disabled Daughter

Jennifer Franklin

My life without you—I have already
seen it. Today, on the salt marsh.
The red-winged blackbird perched
in the tallest tree, sage green branches
falling over the water. She sat there
for a long time, doing nothing.
As she lifted up to fly, the slender branch
shook from the release of her weight.
When the bird departed, it seemed
the branch would shake forever
in the wind, bobbing up and down.
When it finally stopped moving,
the branch was diminished,
reaching out to the vast sky.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast

“I wrote this short poem during a twelve-day residency in Cape Cod. Because I raised my twenty-two-year-old disabled daughter by myself, this was the first time since graduate school that I had uninterrupted time to write. I woke up at dawn and sat on the deck with my dog and a cup of coffee, watching the abundance of birds—swans, osprey, ducks on the salt marsh. The simple red-winged blackbird provoked this poem. I hope [John] Keats’s negative capability comes across in this sonnet. That the beauty of the scene and the internal conflict of preparing for the hardest thing I will ever do in my life, for my daughter’s own good, comes through. Although she will still see me all the time, nothing will be the same, for either of us, again.”
—Jennifer Franklin

Jennifer Franklin is the author of If Some God Shakes Your House, forthcoming this month from Four Way Books. The recipient of grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts/City Corps and the Café Royal Cultural Foundation, she is the program director of the Hudson Valley Writers Center and a professor in the creative writing MFA program at Manhattanville College.

If Some God Shakes Your House
(Four Way Books, 2023)

“The Pomegranate” by Eavan Boland
read more

“Plastic Cookie” by Cate Marvin
read more

Thanks to Diane Seuss, author of frank: sonnets (Graywolf Press, 2021), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read or listen to a Q&A about Seuss’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.

“Poem-a-Day is brilliant because it makes space in the everyday racket for something as meaningful as a poem.” —Tracy K. Smith

If this series is meaningful to you, join the community of Poem-a-Day supporters by making a gift today. Now serving more than 320,000 daily subscribers, this publication is only possible thanks to the contributions of readers like you.

donate

Copyright © 2023 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:

The Academy of American Poets

75 Maiden Lane

St #901

New York, NY 10038

Add us to your address book

View this email in your browser

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from all Academy messages.

For any other questions, please visit the Poem-a-Day FAQ page.

Older messages

Poems for Women's History Month

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Plus, plan ahead for National Poetry Month Facebook Twitter Instagram March 2023 March is Women's History Month—this month and year-round, celebrate with the following classic and contemporary

Join Ethan Hawke, Jonathan Majors, Rosie Perez, Malala Yousafzai, and more for Poetry & the Creative Mind live on April 26, 2023

Thursday, March 9, 2023

"Dirk McDermott" by Patrick Donnelly

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Fellow Scout who could climb and touch Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day March 9, 2023 Dirk McDermott Patrick Donnelly Fellow Scout who could climb and touch the gold ball at the top of the

"Summer, You’re a Boneyard" by Gustavo Hernandez

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

and you used to be The Richard Bey Show Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day March 8, 2023 Summer, You're a Boneyard Gustavo Hernandez and you used to be The Richard Bey Show and my

"Moon that is linking our daughters’ / Choices, and still more beginnings"

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

March 7, 2023 Celebrate Women's History Month with a selection of poems from Poets.org: “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou “Pain Scale” by Catherine Barnett “The Sound of Their Names” by Ellen Bass “

Build a killer core with the 90-Day Abs Challenge

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Men's Health ORDER NOW & Start the ULTIMATE Abs Challenge View in Browser Are you tough enough for this 90-day challenge? A seriously strong core requires getting serious about your plan of

The Day I Burned

Saturday, March 25, 2023

The Storyletter cross-posted a post from Kindling Winston MaloneMar 25 · The Storyletter Dear Reader, The Storyletter's "Exploring the Unknown" prompt is generating some awesome entries

Make moving less miserable

Saturday, March 25, 2023

The best packing advice and supplies ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Daily Skimm Weekend: It’s like if Santa Claus was a hitman

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Skimm'd with every pimple solution you need — Check out what we Skimm'd for you today March 25, 2023 Subscribe Read in browser Daily Skimm WEEKEND Header Image Together with Hero. Skimm'd

Misunderstanding the Meaning of "Housing Crisis"

Saturday, March 25, 2023

The furor over New York's housing plan misses the point ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

savourites #41: things worth knowing special

Saturday, March 25, 2023

better late than never ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

"To a Daisy" by Alice Meynell

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Slight as thou art, thou art enough to hide, Facebook Twitter Instagram Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Your gift today will help the Academy of American Poets continue to publish the work of 260 poets

"Dark Feminine Energy" Is TikTok's Latest Beauty Obsession

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Plus, the best travel products for natural hair. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

BECOMING MARTINIERE, Part Two

Saturday, March 25, 2023

The Cost of Power, Chapter Four, Part Two ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The 'Ugly' Retro Shoe I'm Obsessed With For Spring 2023

Saturday, March 25, 2023

It's making a huge comeback. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌