Margins
The Daily Mirror book cover
The Daily Mirror
2000
First Published
3.62
Average Rating
162
Number of Pages

Following in the footsteps of such poets as Emily Dickinson, William Stafford, and Frank O'Hara, David Lehman began writing a poem a day in 1996 and found the experience so rewarding that he continued for the next two years. During that time, some of these poems appeared in various journals and on Web sites, including The Poetry Daily site, which ran thirty of Lehman's poems in as many days throughout the month of April 1998. For The Daily Mirror, Lehman has selected the best of these "daily poems" — each tied to a specific occasion or situation—and telescoped two years into one. Spontaneous and immediate, but always finely crafted and spiced with Lehman's signature irony and wit, the poems are akin to journal entries charting the passing of time, the deaths of great men and women, the news of the day. Jazz, Sinatra, the weather, love, poetry and poets, movies, and New York City are among their recurring themes. A departure from Lehman's previous work, this unique volume provides the intimacy of a diary, full of passion, sound, and fury, but with all the aesthetic pleasure of poetry. More a party of poems than a standard collection, The Daily Mirror presents an exciting new way to think about poetry.

Avg Rating
3.62
Number of Ratings
123
5 STARS
24%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
27%
2 STARS
11%
1 STARS
4%
goodreads

Author

David Lehman
Author · 24 books
David Lehman is a poet and the series editor for The Best American Poetry series. He teaches at The New School in New York City.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2026 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved