One great poem to read today: Corey Van Landingham’s “Adult Swim”
This April marks the 30th iteration of National Poetry Month, which was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. To celebrate, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending one great poem to read every (work) day of the month. We make no claim (except when we do) that these poems are the “best” poems in any category; they are simply poems we love. The only other thing they all have in common is that they are available to read for free online, so you can enjoy them along with us. The internet is still good for some things, after all. Today we recommend:
Corey Van Landingham’s “Adult Swim”
It may be April, and technically spring, but as the snowflakes swirl (yes, still) in upstate New York, summer seems years away. The cure for this lately in my household is Corey Van Landingham’s vibrant, candy-coated “Adult Swim,” which begins with so much reverent attention to corn dogs and Sour Patch Kids that I can taste them, and proceeds to a central parenthetical that changes everything I thought I understood about this poem, and then ends with an allusion to Marie Antoinette that changes it again, but in general is a poem about how good it feels to float alone in a pool, especially when you have been waiting all day—all year, I’d tell you, from my frosty Northern vantage—to do so. I will think about it until summer.
Emily Temple
Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.
