This Morning, This First Poem

Afaa Michael Weaver

It is the first day of the year again, this time
in the quiet absence of Portlandia, we have
our own quiet way of entering the spaces
between the seconds of life, where time fades.

The fire makes a noise, inside here where ice
and snow make the earth frozen, press us
to guess what weather will do now as weather
becomes a matter of climate with no divination.

I listen to your napping, air going inside
to fill you with warmth from the fireplace,
air going out to let your soul teach the world
what it is to make the journey to the heart.

So this first poem the day a golden retriever
wallowed in the sunrise over frozen snow,
then sat up to grin the silly grin of its kind,
as if to say, the light is there if you only wait.

We wait together for the first man to enter
this house we are leaving for another house,
as you say it is me, I am the man to bless
the heart, its mystery of fire and the light.

Copyright © 2018 by Afaa Michael Weaver. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 15, 2018, by the Academy of American Poets.

poems for the new year

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2025 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize & 2025 James Laughlin Award  

We are now accepting submissions from publishers for the 2025 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, which recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in 2024, and the 2025 James Laughlin Award, given to a second book of poetry forthcoming in 2026. Learn more here about our judges and apply by May 15, 2025 (11:59 p.m. ET). 

last week’s poem-a-day

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

“2020 A Year to Forget,” Nancy Mercado
“sueño convulso (seizure dream),” Urayoán Noel
“My Dead Relatives,” Myrna Nieves
“túmba la caña jibarito,” Edwin Torres
“Scotty and the Rib Tips,” Bob Holman
“Passing of the Old Year,” Mary Weston Fordham
“New Year’s Eve,” D. H. Lawrence