Sarah Kay on the poems the universe has already written

TWL Sarah Kay hosted by Teri Ellen Cross Davis Poet Sarah Kay talks with poet Teri Ellen Cross Davis about her introduction to the literary life at the Bowery Poetry Club as a 14-year-old. Kay discusses the many reasons she reaches for poetry–as a communal art form, as a way to puzzle out life, and as a way to engage with the beauty of the universe. From her collection A Little Daylight Left, Kay recites “A Bird Made of Birds” (time: 12:48) and “Miles from any Shoreline” (time: 23:59). Kay explains, “I’ve always used poetry to figure things out. When I have something I can’t figure out with my logic brain, that’s usually the sign to myself that I have to poem my way, poem as a verb, through whatever I’m trying to solve like a Rubik’s Cubes. I’m now 37, and so the things that come to the surface that I wrestle with or grapple with are different than what I was thinking about when I was 14. But I’m still reaching for poems.” For more information on the live or recorded programs of HoCoPoLitSo, visit www.hocopolitso.org. Recorded on April 23, 2026.