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!

Nils Peterson was selected as the first Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County. back in 2009. He is now Professor Emeritus at San Jose State University, where he taught in the English and Humanities departments. Nils has published three collections of poetry and several chapbooks, as well as a bit of science fiction and articles on subjects as varied as golf and Shakespeare. His memoir about his friendship and work with Robert Bly is The Dear Time of Our Talking (2020), and another memoir, Talk in the Reading Room (wordrunnerpress, 2014) can be read at http://www.echapbook.com/memoir/peterson/. Nils' latest book, My Dinner with Nils, is a compelling collection of poems, memoir bits, essays, and "memorable fancies," as he puts it.