The Sky Over My Mother’s House It is a July night scented with gardenias. The moon and stars shine hiding … More
Tag: Poets
What you missed
What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade Mrs. Nelson explained how to stand still and listento … More
Before
Before No shoes and a glossyred helmet, I rodeon the back of my dad’sHarley at seven years old.Before the divorce.Before … More
A holiness to exhaustion
First There is a holiness to exhaustion is what I keep telling myself, filling out the form so my TA … More
Ourselves again
Tollund That Sunday morning we had travelled far. We stood a long time out in Tollund Moss: The low ground, … More
Be kind
Be Kind Not merely because Henry James saidthere were but four rules of life—be kind be kind be kind be … More
You’ve got to write it all down
The unexamined life’s no different from … More
The Thing Is
The Thing Is to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles … More
When I am Asked
When I am Asked When I am asked how I began writing poems, I talk about the indifference of nature. … More
Autumn
Autumn One night goes on longer than the rest, never so long, whiled away. Then dawn. Goodbye, insects. Hollow casings … More
God’s Grief
God’s Grief Great parentwho must have started outwith such high hopes.What magnitude of suffering,the immensity of guilt,the staggering despair.A mind … More
Praise the Rain
Praise the Rain Praise the rain; the seagull diveThe curl of plant, the raven talk—Praise the hurt, the house slackThe … More
The most popular lifesaving poems
Earlier this year my Lifesaving Poems blog enjoyed something of a milestone. Not as momentous as Jimmy Anderson taking his … More
The fear of poetry -by Muriel Rukeyser
The Fear of Poetry In this moment when we facehorizons and conflicts widerthan ever before, we want our resources,the ways … More
Lifesaving Poems: Margaret Avison’s ‘Twilight’
Twilight Three minutes ago it was almost dark.Now all the darkness is in theleaves (there are no morelow garage roofs, … More
Lifesaving Poems: Mandy Sutter’s ‘Caring for the Environment’
In 1991 I made the decision to spend more of my time concentrating on the thing that fulfilled me the … More
Lifesaving Poems: Sean O’Brien’s ‘Before’
To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More
Reading and writing resources for young poets
Young Poets’ Stories project update: Today we add a reading resources for young poets page to the Young Poets’ Stories website. … More
Lifesaving Poems 