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National Poetry Month: April 3rd

April 3, 2013

The Angel by William Blake

I dreamt a dream! What can it mean?

And that I was a maiden Queen

Guarded by an Angel mild:

Witless woe was ne’er beguiled!

And I wept both night and day,

And he wiped my tears away;

And I wept both day and night,

And hid from him my heart’s delight.

So he took his wings, and fled;

Then the morn blushed rosy red.

I dried my tears, and armed my fears

With ten-thousand shields and spears.

Soon my Angel came again;

I was armed, he came in vain;

For the time of youth was fled,

And grey hairs were on my head.

guardianangel1

This poem was selected by Lesley W. (Head of Adult Services)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 2nd

April 2, 2013

Happiness by Raymond Carver

So early it’s still almost dark out.

I’m near the window with coffee,

and the usual early morning stuff

that passes for thought.

When I see the boy and his friend

walking up the road

to deliver the newspaper.

They wear caps and sweaters,

and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.

They are so happy

they aren’t saying anything, these boys.

I think if they could, they would take

each other’s arm.

It’s early in the morning,

and they are doing this thing together.

They come on, slowly.

The sky is taking on light,

though the moon still hangs pale over the water.

Such beauty that for a minute

death and ambition, even love,

doesn’t enter into this.

Happiness. It comes on

unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,

any early morning talk about it.

This poem was selected by Susan R. (Collection Development Librarian)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 1st

April 1, 2013

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveler from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

statue

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

Poetry Copyright Notice

April is National Poetry Month

poetry month If you’re anything like us, you’ve been counting down to this very day. Besides kick starting the showers that bring the flowers, April 1st officially makes it next year for the Cubs and gives you cause to unleash that new whoopee cushion. What’s most exciting, however, is that today means National Poetry Month is finally here, and we can get our poetry party started. You see, today begins Off the Shelf’s 4th annual National Poetry Month extravaganza during which we showcase one staff-picked “Poem of the Day” for the entire month of April. For your poetry pleasure, we’ll also have plenty of poetry news, quotes, features, and much, much more. So sit back, relax, and stay awhile. It’s going to be a good month.

Poetry 365

March 22, 2013

This month for Poetry 365 we’re highlighting Jessica Greenbaum’s eloquent new volume The Two Yvonnes. Chosen for Paul Muldoon’s series of Princeton Contemporary Poets, the upstreet editor’s second collection employs prose-like free verse, sonnets, and a single pantoun in explorations of the urban everyday akin to Elizabeth Bishop and W.G. Sebald. Organic and unhurried, these 42 poems showcase what PW called Greenbaum’s “great intelligence, skill with abstraction, humor, and talent for endings” while raising her writing “far above the mundane.” So check out this excellent new collection, sample a poem below, and clear your calendar… our National Poetry Month celebration is about to begin.

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Poetry 365

February 28, 2013

This month for Poetry 365 we’re featuring Marcus Wicker’s stellar new book Maybe the Saddest Thing. Winner of the 2011 National Poetry Series Prize as selected by D.A. Powell, Wicker’s outstanding debut mixes meditations on memory, family, race, and desire with complicated love letters to African-American icons such as Pam Grier, Flavor Flav, and Dave Chappelle. Fearless, vibrant, and hip, these 38, excitingly varied poems have been favorably compared to the work of Terrance Hayes who praised the collection for “showing us what it is to be in vigilant conversation with the world and with the self.” So check out this wonderful new book, sample a poem below, and make sure to stop back next month for Poetry 365.

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Poetry 365

January 31, 2013

This month for Poetry 365 we’re highlighting the extraordinary new novel-in-poems from Kathleen Rooney. In Robinson Alone, the Rose Metal Press founding editor examines and expands upon the work of mysterious 1940’s poet Weldon Kees by reanimating his haunting literary alter ego Robinson. Epic, atmospheric, and akin to historical fiction, this cinematic collection traces Robinson’s cross country journey from hope to despair in what Booklist called “an intricate… tale of American loneliness and enthralling testament to poetry’s resonance.” So don’t miss this Chicagoan’s brilliant new book, sample a poem below, and make sure to stop back next month for Poetry 365.

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Bruce Guernsey to Judge Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Awards

January 20, 2013

We are thrilled to introduce poet Bruce Guernsey as the judge for our 35th Annual Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Awards. A professor of English at Eastern Illinois University for 25 years, Guernsey was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in American Poetry in Portugal and Greece, spent four years as poet-in-residence at Virginia Wesleyan College and also served as editor of The Spoon River Poetry Review. His books of poetry include From Rain: Poems, 1970-2010 and New England Primer, and his poems have appeared in Poetry, The Atlantic, and American Scholar. To learn more about Mr. Guernsey and his work, make sure to visit his website, and mark your calendars because the deadline for contest entries is Friday, March 8, 2013. In the meantime, enjoy one of Mr. Guernsey’s poems below:

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Poetry 365

December 29, 2012

This month for Poetry 365 we’re featuring D.A. Powell’s exhilarating new volume Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys. A staple on multiple 2012 Best Poetry Book lists, Powell’s fifth collection demonstrates his remarkable range of form as he examines his impoverished childhood, ecological disaster, gay sexual awakening, illness, and love. Sleek, witty, scathing, and compact, Useless Landscape finds Powell “turning the corner from promising poet into established power.” So check out this lyrical new book, sample a poem below, and make sure to stop back in 2013 for Poetry 365.

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Poetry 365

November 9, 2012

This month for Poetry 365 we’re featuring the lyrical debut of Rowan Ricardo Phillips. In The Ground, the Stony Brook University professor meditates on both the beautiful and ugly of post-9/11 New York City in 44 poems of “fiery intelligence and inescapable music.” Reminiscent of the work of Derek Walcott, Wallace Stevens, and Rita Dove, Phillips’ poems are infused with the flavor of his West Indies’ roots and showcase an original voice that is at once timeless and contemporary. So check out this masterful new collection, sample a poem below, and make sure to stop back next month for Poetry 365.

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