Your Daily Poem

This site exists for one purpose only: to help dispel the ugly and absolutely untrue myth that poetry is boring. Granted, a lot of poetry is boring, but you won't find it here. At Your Daily Poem, you'll find poetry that is touching, funny, provocative, inspiring, uplifting, and surprising. It may punch you in the gut, it may bring tears to your eyes, it may make you laugh out loud, but it most assuredly will not bore you!

Poetry on YDP—by poets living and long dead, famous to completely unknown--is specially selected for accessibility and appeal. Thanks so much for visiting—and remember: a poem a day keeps the doldrums away!

In the Company of Hummingbirds
by
Gail Goepfert

Uncountable wingbeats
thousands a minute rain
on the air as hummingbirds,
unmindful of time,
breakfast before clock orders day
and only the train
in the valley
conveying coal
moves on schedule.

Dashes to sweet blossoms
of trumpet vine nectar,
races to feeders,
as the tiny whisks in flight
make a game of the chase.

A fan of white-tipped feathers,
a face-off midair,
a dip and a rise two-stories high—
ruby throats flurry to feed, wise
to shadow the sweetness of day.

From in gratitude for days gone by (Blurb.com).
Used here with the author's permission.

Gail Goepfert, an associate editor at RHINO Poetry since 2013, is the author of four books. The most recent is Self-Portrait with Thorns (Glass Lyre Press, 2022). Since then she has worked collaboratively with Patrice Boyer Claeys on three publications: a pandemic chapbook, Hard Business of Living, and two photoverse books, Honey from the Sun (2020), and Earth Cafeteria (2023). Gail lives in the Chicagoland area; learn more about her at gailgoepfert.com.

Jo:
One of my favorite poems, Gail. And the photo is wonderful. Thanks so much.
Posted 04/16/2011 01:53 PM

joepuzzo:
Love her poems. Loved her as my language arts teacher. Love her as my friend for 30something years. A real talent in so many ways.
Posted 04/16/2011 10:44 AM

Jane Stitzel:
Gail's poetry grabs me and freezes time for me to appreciate the beauty in all things. In this case, it is the hummingbird mid-flight! Jane Stitzel
Posted 04/16/2011 10:28 AM

KevinArnold:
I nosed around and learned that Gail Goepfert is a visual artist and photographer as well. Check it out. http://www.hearttoartonline.com/indexfall.htm
Posted 04/16/2011 09:22 AM

dotief@comcast.net:
Lovely!
Posted 04/16/2011 07:17 AM

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