Tag: poetry

National Poetry Month: April 21st

April 21, 2010

A Supermarket in California by Allen Ginsberg

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the streets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon.
In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!
What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!
— and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons? Continue reading “National Poetry Month: April 21st” →

National Poetry Month: April 20th

April 20, 2010

Zhao Mengfu, a 14th century Chinese government official, was wondering how his wife, Guan Daosheng, might react to his thoughts about getting a concubine. A revered painter and poet, he wrote her this lyric poem:

I’m a scholar-official
and you are the official wife.
Haven’t you ever heard that scholar-official Wang had Peach Leaf and Peach Root,
Scholar-official Su had Morning Clouds and Evening Clouds?
Even if I marry a few beauties from Wu and Yue – it wouldn’t be too much
since you’re already over forty.
You’ll still control Spring in the Jade Hall. Continue reading “National Poetry Month: April 20th” →

National Poetry Month: April 18th

April 18, 2010

Class Picture, 1954 by Billy Collins

I am the third one
from the left in the third row.

The girl I have been in love with
since the 5th grade is just behind me
to the right, the one with the bangs.

The boy who pushes me down
in the playground
is the last one on the left in the top row.

And my friend Paul is the second one
in the second row, the one
with his collar sticking out, next to the teacher.

But that’s not all-
if you look carefully you can see
our house in the background

with its porch and its brick chimney
and up in the clouds
you can see the faces of my parents.

and over there, off to the side,
Superman is balancing
a green car over his head with one hand.

This poem was selected by Shira S. (Reader’s Services)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 17th

April 17, 2010

Excerpted from Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law by Adrienne Rich

Well,
she’s long about her coming, who must be
more merciless to herself than history.
Her mind full to the wind, I see her plunge
breasted and glancing through the currents,
taking the light upon her
at least as beautiful as any boy
or helicopter,
poised, still coming,
her fine blades making the air wince

but her cargo
no promise then:
delivered
palpable
ours.

This poem was selected by Mary H. (Reader’s Services)

Poetry Copyright Notice

Rock You Like a Quatrain

April 16, 2010

David Berman
Poet & musician David Berman

Jeff Tweedy wrote one.  Billy Corgan and Jewel did too.  2Pac and Jim Morrison have posthumous collections, and Bob Dylan’s began as an underground bootleg.  What, you may ask, is the connection between this diverse group of musical artists?  The answer may surprise you.  Believe it or not, all of the aforementioned rockers and rappers have a published volume of poetry to their credit, and though the critical and commerical response to each has differed, the books are a collective reminder of the following oft-forgotten fact.  Simply put, the arts of writing songs and writing poetry are not one and the same, and it’s no given that a great lyricist will make a great poet.  There are a few rare talents, however, who are accomplished in both music and verse, and one such artist is Virginia-native David Berman.  Pulling double duty as an indie rock cult hero and a critically-acclaimed poet, Berman’s debut book Actual Air is a sure bet for connoisseurs of fine poetry everywhere.

Continue reading “Rock You Like a Quatrain” →

National Poetry Month: April 15th

April 15, 2010

I Knew A Woman by Theodore Roethke

I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:
The shapes a bright container can contain!
Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,
Or English poets who grew up on Greek
(I’d have them sing in a chorus, cheek to cheek). Continue reading “National Poetry Month: April 15th” →

National Poetry Month: April 12th

April 12, 2010

The Different Stars by W.S. Merwin

I could never have come to the present without you
remember that
from whatever stage we may again
watch it appear

with its lines clear
pain
having gone from there

so that we may well wonder
looking back on us here what tormented us
what great difficulty invisible
in a time that by then looks simple
and is irrevocable  Continue reading “National Poetry Month: April 12th” →

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