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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!
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If You Don't Know the Words Just Hum, 1963
by
Gail Fishman Gerwin Second graders sweetly singing,
I the young teacher in front,
waving my arms, tapping my feet,
swaying to the beat.
Winter musicals,
tunes for all seasons,
noting the months,
Thirty days hath September,
April June and—...
November twenty-two,
rehearsing rehearsing,
Mrs. D. at the piano,
Miss Me at the helm,
pale blue wool dress,
stylish sprayed tresses
mimicking Jackie K's,
baton swaying
down-left-right-up,
pouring music into
gap-toothed faces,
reminding openmouthed robins,
if you don't know the words, just hum.
In the second-grade wing
at Somerville School in
Ridgewood, New Jersey,
where raw November grey
hovers over leafless oaks,
sudden silence, sudden horror.
Mrs. J. runs down the hall, crying
THE PRESIDENT'S BEEN SHOT!
THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD!
Chaotic dismissal, confused children
holding hands of grieving parents,
rushing toward the nation's gash.
Unable to grasp the day's enormity,
not knowing what words to sing,
we all hum.
From Sugar and Sand (Full Court Press, 2009).
Used here with the author's permission.
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Gail Fishman Gerwin (1939 - 2016), a “Jersey girl” from birth who claims to have channeled Dorothy Parker and Sylvia Plath on occasion, authored three poetry collections: Crowns (Aldrich Press), inspired in part by her four grandchildren; Sugar and Sand, a Paterson Poetry Prize finalist; and Dear Kinfolk (ChayaCairn Press), which earned a Paterson Award for Literary Excellence. Founder of the writing/editing firm Inedit, Gail was also the associate poetry editor of Tiferet Journal and frequently participated in workshops and panels on the creative process.
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EstherJ:
"Unable to grasp the day's enormity,
not knowing what words to sing,
we all hum." Amen.
Posted 11/22/2025 11:59 AM
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Ron Stewart:
I was in second at a military college (Canada RMC) and went to the barber to get a trim. There were several cadets there before me so I thought I would have to wait, but the barber ushered me directly to his chair. The other cadets it turned were listening/ watching Walter Cronkite on the small black and white in the corner. President John F Kennedy had been shot.
Posted 11/22/2025 08:56 AM
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Linda Lee Konichek:
Over forty years ago, I, too, was a young teacher (grades 7-11), in Bexar county, outside of San Antonio, Texas.
I remember comforting kids of all ages, many of them band members, who had almost made it to the ceremonies for the motorcade. It almost seemed surreal for days; everyone was in shock. It was a horrible, heart-rending time for everyone. Perhaps it's a good reminder of what happens when people choose to follow their dark side. The contrast and image of the singing/humming is profound.
Posted 11/25/2010 10:26 AM
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APACHEJOEH:
GAIL: I WAS 36 AND WAS STATIONED AT THE MARINE CORPS RECRUITING OFFICE IN PORTLAND. WAS RETURN FROM LUNCH AS NOTED EVERY ONE STANDING IN FRONT OF MEIRS DEPARTMENT STORE WATCHING TELEVISON. THEN ONLY THEN DID I LEARN THAT PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS ASSASSINATED. AN AWESOME TRIBUTE. THANK YOU. THREE YEARS LATER I WAS ON MY WAY TO VIETNAM.
Posted 11/22/2010 09:40 PM
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Buckner14:
You take me back to that horrific day...begun so simply, ending in tragedy. Neither I nor the country has gotten over it.
Thank you.
Posted 11/22/2010 07:54 PM
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