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!

Sad Streaks and Weepy Meringues
by
Sarah Anne Loudin Thomas

Illness, death, disease and even divorce
bring out the mixing bowls, the spoons,
the flour, the sugar and the speckled brown eggs.
Good women converge in kitchens on far
sides of town, all for the expression
of love and sorrow, sadness and hope.
They consult stained cookbooks, faded cards
and memories sharpened with use to concoct
something that will stave off the hunger for
knowing what comes next—what comes
after we get through this . . .
And when the pound cake isn't quite done,
with a soft, moist middle that invites us
to sink down and find an almost peace—
When the sugar in the meringue doesn't
quite melt, and caramel drops bloom like
smoky topaz tears—That's when love
and sadness meet the perfect measure,
filling our sorrowing hearts,
if only for a mouthful.

This poem first appeared in Appalachian Heritage Magazine (Summer 2006).
Used here with the author's permission.

Sarah Loudin Thomas grew up on a 100-acre farm in French Creek, West Virginia, the seventh generation to live there. Her historical fiction is often set in West Virginia and celebrates the people, land, and heritage of Appalachia. Sarah is the director of Jan Karon's Mitford Museum in Hudson, North Carolina. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from Coastal Carolina university and is the author of the acclaimed novels The Right Kind of Fool, winner of the 2021 Selah Book of the Year, and Miracle in a Dry Season, winner of the 2015 Inspy Award. Sarah has also been a finalist for the Christy Award, the ACFW Carol Award and the Christian Book of the Year Award. She and her husband live in western North Carolina.

Ron Stewart:
Not only a beautiful poem, but true.
Posted 05/05/2025 07:09 AM

Cindy:
beautiful and true
Posted 05/05/2015 08:27 AM

mimi:
mouth-watering!
Posted 05/05/2015 07:31 AM

erinsnana:
I love this poem!
Posted 05/05/2015 05:19 AM

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