Recorded by Jen DeGregorio for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on June 12, 2025. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.poets.org

Jen DeGregorio: “No Isms Except Neologism”

If you had just one question
What would you ask, and who'd you ask it to?
Not sure if it's for a good reason
But I would ask God if he's bulletproof
Cause I know that the Gods got a weakness
Yeah I'm sure that you do to
But would you flinch or would you follow?
If God reached out straight to you

I been choking on the silence
Like it's something I could use
You don't believe in science
Why don't you go and find some truth?
Don't you cry when I'm right here
Right in front of you
Cause I can't stand to see your tears
When you got nothing left to lose

If you had a million reasons
Would you donate to the church?
And keep the profit
Let's be honest
Feed em the body they pay with bruises
We can't just stop it
Not our department
Not like they report it anyway
It's just a profit
And we're the product
Feed us the body we pay in blood

I been choking on the silence
Like it's something I could use
You don't believe in guidance
Well how did you learn to tie your shoes?
Don't you cry when they're right here
Right in front of you
Cause I can't stand to see your fear
When you got no one left to lose

I been choking on the science
Like it's something I could prove
You don't believe in freedom
Why don't you go and fight some troops?
Can't you see that they gave up
Everything for you
Just for you to be silent
And let the dead collect your dues

SILENCE

The Vocals/Poetry, Music & Sampling: C. Double34 Music
The Sampled Vocals: The Ohio Players & Bill Pullman
The Artwork: The Infamous Strategy

* FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research

Independence Day (C. Double34 Music, vocals)

Inspired by: Righteous Gemstones Baby Billy

Baby Billy Interlude

счастье

Let us praise the Goddess who gives us this breath, whether we call her Sophia, Hockma, Kundalini Shakti, or Holy Spirit.

Photo by Kristy Thompson

She Flows Into You

By my side

This week, we're talking about protests. We're for them! Chris is joined by Dr. Han VanderHart, who, among other things, is in the midst of publishing a Summer Riot-themed issue of Moist Poetry Journal. Later, we salute the service workers who have to put up with irritating questions about gender-neutral bathrooms. 

Support your neighbors, support your communities, support each other. 

Don't forget about the first ever Lazy & Entitled Reading, happening this Monday, June 16, at Rivers & Roads Cafe in Rogers Park. Bob Sykora, Adrian Sobol, Sandra Marchetti, and Micah Mabey will be reading poems, as will Chris. Brendan is providing music. It's going to be a good night, we'd love to see you there. 

Han VanderHart is a queer writer living in Durham, NC. They are the author of Larks (OUP, 2025), winner of the 2024 Hollis Summers Poetry Prize, the chapbook Hawk & Moon (Bottlecap Press, 2025), and What Pecan Light (Bull City Press, 2021), and have essays and poetry published in Poetry Daily, The Boston Globe, Kenyon Review, The American Poetry Review, Poetry Foundation, Poetry Northwest, Poet Lore, AGNI, and elsewhere. Han hosts Of Poetry Podcast and, alongside Amorak Huey, co-edits the poetry press River River Books.



Pride is a RIOT with Dr Han VanderHart

damned love letters i can't send, pt. I

you, the rainfall. i, the rose.

Ego (1)

Стихотворение Ивана Бунина «И цветы, и шмели, и трава, и колосья…» — это глубокая лирическая медитация о счастье, памяти и смысле жизни. В нём поэт рисует идиллическую картину природы: цветы, шмели, зной, лазурь — всё это символы земной красоты и простого, но полного счастья.

Кульминацией становится образ встречи с Богом, когда душа, оглядываясь на прожитую жизнь, вспоминает не славу или страдания, а именно полевые пути меж колосьев и трав. Это подчёркивает мысль, что истинное счастье — в мимолётных, тихих моментах, наполненных гармонией с природой и собой

И цветы, и шмели, и трава, и колосья…(на стихи Ивана Бунина)

The Difficult Thing

To be a truly good person is a difficult thing.
It hurts and it burns you, but it’s pursuit will make you whole.
You will be spat at with a venomous hatred.
You will be beaten with a club of misdirected anger.
You will be used for everything that you will give.
And you will be discarded when you have given it.
But you must bite your tongue and walk with grace.
You must, or you will be pointed at.
Only you will know your equity.
Only you will know your truth.

Written & Spoken by
Brodie Finegan Forbes

The Difficult Thing

And this summer of love
Is a cold winter
No one believes in love
No one believes in you

Summer of love
Summer of love
Summer of love

And this summer of love
Is so cold this year
No one believes in truth
No one denies all lies

Summer of love
Summer of love

You can't believe in love
Caause it won't believe in you
You can't believe in love
Caause it won't believe in you

Summer of love
Summer of love
Summer of love
Summer of love

And this summer of love
Is a cold winter
No one believes in love
No one believes in you

Summer of love
Summer of love

Summer Of Love

I wrote these lyrics many years ago and envisioned a R&amp; B artist singing the song
backed by a gospel choir. Who would you recommend @caymankelly? Since my vision
for this piece hasn’t come to its fruition yet, I recorded a shortened version of “Stay In
The Day” as a spoken word piece.
#lyrics #R&amp;B #gospel #mindfulness #positivethinking #mindfulliving #wellness
#inspiration #selfcare #mindset
@deepakchopra @oprah @oprahdaily @caymankelly

Stay In The Day
by: Alysia Hartian
You gotta stay
Stay.
You gotta stay
(Stay.)
Hey you gotta stay in the day.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. (Chorus)
You gotta stay in the day.
All you’re given are the hours ‘round the clock
24 of them
You can make time negative
Or sublime.
Listen; You gotta stay in the day
Put that heartbreak from 1980 away
Planning for the future at bay
You gotta stay in the day.
Get on your knees and pray.
Create a mantra to say
Listen to Oprah.
Emulate Chopra.
You gotta stay in the day.
Yeah: you gotta stay in the day.
Written and performed by Alysia Hartian
Recorded by David Correia, Celebration Sound
Mixed by Riley Knapp

Stay in the Day (RK_v2)

The Vocals/Poetry: L.A. Rabsatt & C. Double34 Music
The Music & Sampling: C. Double34 Music
The Sampled Vocals: Jill Scott, Ronald Isley, & Average White Band
The Additional Music: Vei Beats & Timbaland
The Artwork: The Infamous Strategy

* FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research

I Cannot Function, Part 1 (L.A. Rabsatt & C. Double34 Music, vocals)

i feel like im seti trying to find anyone out there
scanning the cosmos for any sign something can hear
i put my radio dishes to the sky, listening for signs
anything that lets me know im not alone in the distance of life
tryna communicate thru the dark over these endless miles
n can anyone hear the frequencies im sendin?
these poems are my signals to the worlds thats distant
science is the language im communicating with
but theres no reasonin im here in this planet
maybe someone out there can understand
the humans certainly isnt the species that can
but i doubt anyone cares, cuz im just an explorer of my miserable times
looking for signs of life in these lines, or out past the horizon
-earching for clues can anyone hear
im struggling to see the static is too much to bear
muffled sounds breaking up the signals, theres nothing out there
trying to find hope in a message thas open
cant reach far, so i search for anything inside of this bottle thrown in the ocean
floating on the waves maybe this radio will be heard
frequencies of torment breaking up the words
static and erratic noises thrown over a pulse
nomadic words traveling and looking for a home
no place to collect these thoughts so i leave em in the space
a radio dish far away might capture what i say
or even if its lost at least it would fly thru space
light speed of love that makes it to the way
n here i listen for intelligent life with my array, scanning the rays
damaged from the winds and storms, but listening with angst
will they reach me or not, i hope they hear me one day
or maybe im sending rays to myself

can anyone hear

Angkorianz Records 19XX

FOLLOW ON ALL PLATFORMS angkorianzrecords

miserable music

free verse poems and raps - raw and unedited
written, produced, and recorded by me
all tracks recorded live in a single take to express my raw self
beats produced using samples from bandlab

A poetic artist,
to form my ideas into a reality. for the people by the people

zachmacmusic.net for merch, music, and news!

Make beats with a message and sample using the fair use act of 1976. Boom Bap Hip Hop is what I vibe to...but I bring all elements of music to the mix. A man of YHWH, God the Father and I give Him the praise and credit for these ideas. Thanks for listening. Peace be with and unto you. Luke 17:21.

Fred's Amazon Author Page is: https://www.amazon.com/Alfred-K.-LaMotte/e/B00XILNI1Q/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 

Fred lives on Earth, where he teaches college courses in Philosophy, and hosts poetryoga meditation circles.

TERRE est un groupe composé de deux musiciens « space », Patrice Lisenborg, voix et basse, et Alexandre Zaré, guitare et machines. L’atmosphère est intense, poétique, et saturée. 

Contact : patricelisenborg@yahoo.fr

ONZE HEURES

C’était un soir de novembre,
Tout paraissait tranquille.
On attendait le choc venue d’ailleurs.
Il était prévu à onze heures. Je regardais l’heure.
Dix heures… Cinquante-neuf.

Il parait que c’était rapide, plus rapide qu’une vie.
Une minute d’une vie entière. Sans arrêt.
Juste un choc. Et tout continuerait, comme s’il ne s’était rien passé.

J’avais une feuille blanche devant moi. Je voulais écrire.
Ecrire un roman. C’est ce qui ma passait par la tête.
Que deviendrait cette pauvre tête.

Je voulais voler, comme pendant ces longues années de rêve.
Transpercer les nuages jusqu’à l’espace.
Foncer les poings devant moi sur la matière incandescente.

Avec la fureur de l’impuissant, j’ai pris un stylo et j’ai écrit un mot.
Je suis sorti sur l’herbe ondulante, 
J’ai tendu mes bras la feuille au bout des mains.
J’avais écrit : Stop 


AU VENT DU HASARD

Le vent m’a réveillé.
La première image qui m’est venue est celle d’une statue.
Son cœur brûlait.
J’étais sur une sorte de comète. 
Ça faisait comme le son d’un sous-marin qui fend l’eau.

C’était étrange mais je me sentais bien. Je filais parmi les étoiles. 
Peut-être que chacun avait eu le temps de prendre sa comète, et qu’on se croiserait, un de ces jours.

Quelque chose m’avait épargné. Je n’avais ni faim, ni soif, et je me suis demandé si ça viendrait un jour.

J’ai senti la comète accélérer, à tel point que je me suis évanoui.


LE ROBOT SAUVAGE

Chimère du futur.
Génération hybride 
Eclose du vortex sans voix ni direction.
Une horloge bat sous mon armure de guerre.

Je suis un robot sauvage
Un souffle de métal
L’acier humain.

Lumière de l’ennui,
Par le divin cloné.
Isolé pour cause de liberté.
Un réveil sans heure, une heure sans journée.

Je suis un robot sauvage
Un souffle de métal
L’acier humain.


L’EAU DU DÉSERT

Comme si je le savais,
Comme si je le sentais,
A mes yeux, l’horizon.
Je bois l’eau du désert,
Et j’oublie.

Comme le calme qui dort,
Où l’on dort au calme,
Afin de comprendre.
Je bois l’eau du désert,
Et j’oublie.

Comme le fond de l’eau trouble,
Où le vase fleurit,
Et la rose dort.
Je bois l’eau du désert,
Et j’oublie.

Comme le destin qui sème,
Et la chance qui récolte,
Afin de pousser.
Je bois l’eau du désert,
Et j’oublie.









The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poet, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

“They Call Him Sunlight, They Call Him the Eagle”

Adam Majdecki-Janicki (1985) has been writing poetry, lyrics, composing, playing, and recording since 1998. His most important achievements to date include his debut poetry collection “Siva in Rags” (Kendra Steiner Editions, USA, 2008), the vinyl and CD “Second Hand Man” (Mimics Cool, Poland, 2011), the CD-R and vinyl “Stoned Gypsy Wanderer” (Kendra Steiner Editions, USA, 2014 / Ramble Records, Australia, 2021), the experimental/ambient album “Eimi” (Snow in Water Records, France, 2020), the vinyl album of his group Säure Adler (Ramble Records, Australia, 2021), and countless other physical and digital releases worldwide.

New tracks tagged #Poetry