1. Home
  2. Discover
  3. Lifestyle
  4. Poem-a-Day

Poem-a-Day - "Big with Dawn" by Katie Condon

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
April 7, 2020  

Big with Dawn
Katie Condon

Yesterday: me, a stone, the river,
a bottle of Jack, the clouds
with unusual speed crept by.

A man was in the middle of me.
I was humbled.
Not by him. The earth,

with its unusual speed,
went from dawn to dusk to dawn.
Just like that. The light

every shade of gold. Gold. I’m
greedy for it. Light is my currency.
I am big with dawn. So hot & so

pregnant with the fire I stole.
By pregnant I mean everything
you see is of me. Daylight

is my daughter. Dusk, my lover’s
post-pleasure face. And the night?
Well. Look up.

Are you ever really alone?

Copyright © 2020 by Katie Condon. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 7, 2020 by the Academy of American Poets.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  

“This began as a very different poem, in which the speaker argued bitterly with a specific ‘you.’ The essential gesture of the poem was ‘come at me, I dare you.’ In this early draft, the speaker’s fullness, which later became the metaphor of pregnancy, served as a source of power and thus a kind of defense against this ‘you.’ That first half of the poem eventually fell away when I realized I was most interested in exploding our inaccurate and G-Rated ideas of mothers—the gentle caretaker who makes good meatballs and tells you your skirt is too short—by creating a speaker whose swagger is fueled entirely by her sexual maternal power. We were all born from a mother who wielded her desire and her desired body to make us possible, and ‘Big with Dawn’ celebrates that fact.”
—Katie Condon
Katie Condon is the author of Praying Naked (Ohio State University Press, 2020), which won The Journal/ Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize. She is the Creative Writing Fellow in poetry at Emory University and lives in Decatur, Georgia.
Praying Naked
(Ohio State University Press, 2020) 


 

Shelter in Poems


In response to a growing need for poetry during this uncertain time, we invite you to share poems from our Poets.org collection that help to find courage, solace, and actionable energy. Select responses will be featured in a special Shelter in Poems newsletter over the next several weeks. 


 
“An Eternity” by Archibald MacLeish

“Apology of Genius” by Mina Loy

Thanks to Joy Harjo, United States Poet Laureate and author of An American Sunrise (W. W. Norton & Company, 2019), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read an extended Q&A about Harjo’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
From Our Sponsors
Copyright © 2020 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


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Older messages

"The Way We Love Something Small" by Kimberly Blaeser

Thursday, April 9, 2020

The translucent claws of newborn mice / this pearl cast of color, Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day April 8, 2020 The Way We Love Something Small Kimberly Blaeser The translucent claws of

You Might Also Like

New Gains with Muscle After 40 💪

Friday, January 10, 2025

Build Muscle At Age 40+ With Our Best Selling Program Men's Health Shop logo Build a Stronger, Fitter Body in Your 40s and Beyond. Build a Stronger, Fitter Body in Your 40s and Beyond. View in

Eater staff's favorite single-use kitchen tools

Friday, January 10, 2025

LA restaurants offering free meals during the wildfires ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Moisturize and Revitalize: Hair, Bath Products, and Foundations for Winter

Friday, January 10, 2025

And backless bras and pasties for every size. The Cut Shop January 10, 2025 Every product is independently selected by our editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission. Photo-

Ariana Grande Has Been Changed For Good

Friday, January 10, 2025

Plus: Cynthia Erivo is imminently closer to EGOT status. • Jan. 10, 2025 Up Next Your complete guide to industry-shaping entertainment news, exclusive interviews with A-list celebs, and what you should

Three little things

Friday, January 10, 2025

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

New and Old #196

Friday, January 10, 2025

Friday roundup and commentary ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Without hope and without despair

Friday, January 10, 2025

10 things worth sharing this week ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

5-Bullet Friday — Jerry Seinfeld on Mastery, Using iMessage to Text Android, Hypnotic Tracks, SSRI Risks with Ayahuasca, and More

Friday, January 10, 2025

“An old friend of mine, a journalist, once said that paradise on earth was to work all day alone in anticipation of an evening in interesting company. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

The belly slap though…

Friday, January 10, 2025

— Check out what we Skimm'd for you today January 10, 2025 Subscribe Read in browser But first: a cozy cardigan for an extra 50% off Update location or View forecast Good morning. It's been a

“Sleepless Pantoum” by Laurel Nakanishi

Friday, January 10, 2025

The ʻōlauniu breeze lifts voices from the night. / Dogs curl under their houses. January 10, 2025 donate Sleepless Pantoum Laurel Nakanishi The ʻōlauniu breeze lifts voices from the night. Dogs curl