Tagged

poetry

A collection of 188 posts

poetry

Robert Frost, "The Gift Outright"

"The Gift Outright" could seduce through its music alone.

poetry

Jane Kenyon, "Evening Sun"

Jane Kenyon's startling starting question, immediate and personal for us all: "Why does this light force me back / to my childhood?"

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Experience is the Angled Road" (910)

Many have used poetry to generate lingering, meditative essays, but Dickinson is in rare form with "Experience is the Angled Road."

poetry

Jane Kenyon, "Not Writing"

Kyla Houbolt's "On Not Writing" brought back memories of this poem, "Not Writing," by the inimitable Jane Kenyon.

poetry

Kyla Houbolt, "On Not Writing"

Kyla Houbolt calls forth moments when words overwhelm.

poetry

Rita Dove, "Little Town"

This little, haiku-like poem by Rita Dove got me thinking about a lot of places I've been.

poetry

Suzanne Buffam, "On Antigone"

Suzanne Buffam's little lyric "On Antigone" strikes me as if the perfect words have been spoken.

poetry

Yosa Buson, "Early summer rain"

Lots of light rain in South Jersey makes everything a bit too overgrown.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "I can wade Grief" (252)

Dickinson's darkly comic opening should rankle us. Really? You can wade grief?

poetry

Kobayashi Issa, "Napped half the day"

It's been a month.

poetry

Denise Levertov, "Witness"

What an amazing presence, a mountain.

poetry

Chase Twichell, "Animal Caution"

Mom is in the hospital.

poetry

Wislawa Szymborska, "In the Park"

Wislawa Szymborska captures a small but subversive comedy with "In the Park."

poetry

Donika Kelly, "Sanctuary"

A powerful poetry reading can't be written about, probably. However, we can say "these words struck me. I should speak, too."

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Fame is the one that does not stay" (Franklin 1507)

There is no way to talk about being American without confronting Emily Dickinson.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The Savior must have been a docile Gentleman" (1487)

Sometimes I think about doing. Perhaps there is a meaning to doing itself, a meaning that holds true for all actions.

poetry

William Butler Yeats, "The Choice"

Yeats proclaims that "[t]he intellect... is forced to choose / Perfection of the life, or of the work."

poetry

Robert Creeley, "Oh"

Listen and look. Creeley's sentence does not just surprise with sadness: "Oh like a bird / falls down / out of air."

poetry

Kay Ryan, "All You Did"

"All you did," says Kay Ryan, "was / walk into a room." Just from that, you unknowingly scaled a sheer vertical face.

poetry

Linda Gregg, "Highway 90"

At night in the desert, driving a fast car, there's freedom. A reveling in nature. Power.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Hope" is the thing with feathers (254)

I do think there's a strong relation between hope and anxiety...

poetry

Kyla Houbolt, "to go or stay"

Kyla Houbolt wrote "to go or stay" for a recent Small Poem Sunday, and I've found myself pondering her little lyric quite a bit.

poetry

Kobayashi Issa, "Writing shit about new snow" (translation Robert Hass)

"Writing shit about new snow / for the rich / is not art" is a blunt instrument, clear about its stand and too short to be a rant.

poetry

Marie Ponsot, "Bliss and Grief"

"No one / is here / right now." That's it. That's "Bliss and Grief," a short poem by Marie Ponsot.

poetry

Kay Ryan, "Bait Goat"

...I can't help but feel the pull of the words "Bait Goat."