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!

Strawberrying
by
May Swenson

My hands are murder-red. Many a plump head
drops on the heap in the basket . . .

The Literary Estate of May Swenson granted us permission to share this wonderful poem only for a brief time.
To read the rest of it--and it's a poem you don't want to miss!--we encourage you to visit your local library,
or purchase one of the books in which this poem appears: In Other Words (Knopf,1987),
or The Complete Love Poems of May Swenson (Mariner Books, 2003).

May Swenson (1913 - 1989) was born in Logan, Utah, and died in Ocean View, Delaware. She lived her life all across America, working as a newspaper reporter, ghostwriter, editor, secretary, manuscript reader, and poet-in-residence at numerous colleges. Eleven volumes of her poetry were published during her lifetime. These earned much praise and many awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship. May's poetry is best known for its sensual descriptions, lyrical flow, and detailed celebrations of nature. Learn more about her at www.mayswensonsociety.org.

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Judy:
Wow! I'm glad I read the title first!
Posted 06/22/2026 10:45 AM

KevinArnold:
Yes, detailed clelbrations of nature: "A crop this thick begs for plunder. Ripeness / wants to be ravished, as udders of cows when hard, / the blue-veined bags distended, ache to be stripped."
Posted 06/22/2011 12:51 PM

Purple Garden:
I'm salivating.
Posted 06/22/2011 11:30 AM

Carol Hauer:
Just beautiful.
Posted 06/22/2011 09:43 AM

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