Please read today's poem on my blog: "Holding Vigil" by Alison Luterman (published on the Rattle website on November 3, 2024). Then go...

Holding Vigil by Alison Luterman (published in Rattle , Poets Respond, on November 3, 2024 ) My cousin asks if I can describe this...

Bless This School for Girls by Warsan Shire (published in he2022 book, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head from...

Think of fairly common names that are also words that are things other than names. I am thinking of--and these will show my age--Art,...

Rape by Adrienne Rich There is a cop who is both prowler and father: he comes from your block, grew up with your brothers, had certain...

Sonnet 144 by William Shakespeare Two loves I have of comfort and despair, Which like two spirits do suggest me still: The better angel...

Although I am creating this post with photos of 3 pieces of art, this is not an ekphrastic exercise. Rather, I want you to consider how...

America by Claude McKay Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, Stealing my breath of...

The Halloween Party by Aidan Mathews (published in The Irish Times , October 29, 2022 ) I hoist a knitted skeleton on a drip-stand in...

We all need to let go of something or someone. (Hey, "The Raven" speaker! Let go of Lenore!). It is easy to talk about, even plan, but...

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of...

Early October Snow by Robert Haight (published in his 2013 book, Feeding Wild Birds , from Mayapple Press) It will not stay. But this...

Dish of Mashed Peas by Susan Terris (published in her 2019 book, Familiar Tense , and can also be found here on her website) Some...

First, you should really read today's poem on my blog. If you are not a "nana" person, you may be jealous of how those folks get through...

Every Body Lies by A.E. Hines (published in his 2021 book, Any Dumb Animal , from Main Street Rag Press) That’s what it says on her...

As a Capricorn, I am ambitious, loyal, responsible, honest, determined, pessimistic, sensitive, practical, and suspicious. Part of my...

Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My...

Onions by William Matthews (published in his Selected Poems and Translations, 1969-1991 , Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992) How...

Use today's wonderful poem posted here on my blog, During an Enchantment in the Life by Brenda Hillman, for your inspiration today. She...

During an Enchantment in the Life by Brenda Hillman (published in her 2022 book, In a Few Minutes Before Later (Wesleyan University ...