A Little Daylight Left: Poems

“[A] vulnerable collection about facing the good, the bad and the ugly of our humanity with grace and curiosity.”—USA Today (New Must-Read Poetry)

“This is a book that will make you feel simultaneously alive and less alone.”—Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestselling author of There’s Always This Year

from somewhere down a hallway of locked doors, a voice asks / What if you aren’t as bad as you suspect you are? / What if you’ll never be as good as you ache?

Lauded poet Sarah Kay brings us her long-awaited second full-length collection, a decade after her acclaimed debut No Matter the Wreckage. In A Little Daylight Left, Kay explores life’s most vulnerable moments of transition with courage, curiosity, joy & humor. Each poem invites readers to consider what it might look like to boldly face the hard things we so often run from—a heartbreak, an ailing loved one, the fear that comes with new beginnings & uncertain futures—& to celebrate what we hold dear. The result is a blueprint for discovering beauty in all that makes us human. With her signature wit & wisdom, Kay shows us how to navigate life bravely, with every single part of ourselves.

Sarah Kay is a writer, performer & educator from New York City. She is the author of four other books of poetry: B, No Matter the Wreckage, The Type & All Our Wild Wonder. Kay is the founder & co-director of Project VOICE, an organization that uses poetry to entertain, educate & empower students & educators in classrooms & communities worldwide.