Tag: poem

National Poetry Month: April 12th

April 12, 2011

The Dishonest Mailmen by Robert Creeley

They are taking all my letters, and they
put them into a fire.
                             I see the flames, etc.
But do not care, etc.
They burn everything I have, or what little
I have.  I don’t care, etc.
The poem supreme, addressed to
emptiness — this is the courage
necessary.  This is something
quite different.

This poem was selected by Russell J. (Reader’s Services)

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National Poetry Month: April 11th

April 11, 2011

To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain.  I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow

National Poetry Month: April 9th

April 9, 2011

Love’s Stratagems by Donald Justice

But these maneuverings to avoid
The touching of hands,
These shifts to keep the eyes employed
On objects more or less neutral
(As honor, for the time being, commands)
Will hardly prevent their downfall.
Stronger medicines are needed.
Already they find
None of their stratagems have succeeded,
Nor would have, no,
Not had their eyes been stricken blind,
Hands cut off at the elbow.

This poem was selected by Lesley W. (Reference Librarian)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 8th

April 8, 2011

Mrs. Sullivan by Guy W. Longchamps

“Function follows form,”
Said Louis Sullivan one warm
Evening in Chicago drinking beer.
His wife said, “Dear,
I’m sure that what you meant
Is that form should represent
Function.  So it’s function that should be followed.”
Sullivan swallowed
And looked dimly far away
And said, “Okay,
Form follows function, then.”
He said it again,
A three-word spark
of modern arch-
Itectural brilliance
That would dazzle millions.
“Think I should write it down?”
He asked with a frown.
“Oh yes,” she said, “and here’s a pencil.”
He did and soon was influential.

This poem was selected by Jeff B. (Reader’s Services)

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National Poetry Month: April 7th

April 7, 2011

The More Loving One by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

This poem was selected by Russell J. (Reader’s Services)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 6th

April 6, 2011

The Love-Hat Relationship by Aaron Belz

I have been thinking about the love-hat relationship.
It is the relationship based on love of one another’s hats.
The problem with the love-hat relationship is that it is superficial.
You don’t necessarily even know the other person.
Also it is too dependent on whether the other person
is even wearing the favored hat.  We all enjoy hats,
but they’re not something to build an entire relationship on.
My advice to young people is to like hats but not love them.
Try having like-hat relationships with one another.
See if you can find something interesting about
the personality of the person whose hat you like.

This poem was selected by Olivia M. (Reader’s Services)

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National Poetry Month: April 4th

April 4, 2011

Early Spring by Rainer Maria Rilke

Harshness vanished. A sudden softness
has replaced the meadows’ wintry grey.
Little rivulets of water changed
their singing accents. Tendernesses,

hesitantly, reach toward the earth
from space, and country lanes are showing
these unexpected subtle risings
that find expression in the empty trees.

This poem was selected by Rika G. (Reference Librarian)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 3rd

April 3, 2011

River by John Ashbery

It thinks itself too good for
These generalizations and is
Moved on by them.  The opposite side
Is plunged in shade, this one
In self-esteem.  But the center
Keeps collapsing and re-forming.
The couple at a picnic table (but
It’s too early in the season for picnics)
Are traipsed across by the river’s
Unknowing knowledge of its workings
To avoid possible boredom and the stain
Of too much intuition the whole scene
Is walled behind glass.  “Too early,”
She says, “in the season.”  A hawk drifts by.
“Send everybody back to the city.”

This poem was selected by Russell J. (Reader’s Services)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 2nd

April 2, 2011

raccoon prayer by Lucille Clifton

oh Master Of All Who Take And Wash
And Eat    lift me away at the end into evening
forever    into sanctified crumples of paper
and peelings curled over my hand
i have scavenged as i must
among the hairless
now welcome this bandit into the kingdom
just as you made him
barefoot and faithful and clean
 
This poem was selected by Mary H. (Reader’s Services)

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