#poetry
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There is no room on this planet for anything less than a miracle We gather here today to revel in the rebellion of a silent tongue Every day, we lean forward into the light of our brightest designs & cherish the sun Praise our hands & throats each incantation,…
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If you must slight me, let it be the touchThat snow in April, falling soft and whiteGives to the blossoms delicate and light,So I don’t suffer, it won’t harm me much.If you must spite me, let it be as quickAs snow in April falling, not to last.Lies just one moment then, like mist is past,So…
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Blooming in stars, bells, cups, and saucers, before bees, before derelict cities.I can’t google you without involving the suspicious affliction of needingto name, or the geopolitics of search engines. I just want your petalscasting shadows across my face. And to know if they are edible.Many botanists say yes: raw, cooked, pickled, dried.Must I consume to…
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The woodland bed I go toMy mother had filled with sweet woodruff—It formed a layer so thick our Lady catSlept in it, upheld by the stalks called bedstraw—Now that my mother bends to the ground no moreI have stripped it to bare dirt—my darkEarth, empty to the eye, rich as the grave. Gnarled roots of mayapple…
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How to define the wordyellow?Tart lemon that stingsyour mouth; shining sunthat blinds your eyes;deep blanket of daffodilsthat caresses your face.Yes, the yellow of petalthat defies early Apriland its cruelty. Wildand tamed flower, itscolor reminds usof the first lightof spring, the memorythat cannot be forgotten. Copyright © 2011 by Linda Nemec Foster. This poem was first…
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Eyelids are the final petals closing on this life. When I die, place crocuses on my eyes—they will guide me. I kneel down next to the crocuses, touch them gingerly as if they were puppies with pin teeth jumping excitedly in the firth breeze. At last the snow has left us, cleaned the earth for…
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For Day 2 of National Poetry Month, I give you Robert Graves’ “Babylon”: The child alone a poet is: Spring and Fairyland are his. Truth and Reason show but dim, And all’s poetry with him. Rhyme and music flow in plenty For the lad of one-and-twenty, But Spring for him is no more now Than…
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My favorite month after October, National Poetry Month gives me an excuse to overindulge in all of the poetry! I read even more than I normally do, and I try to write at least a few new poems instead of editing the life out of existing ones. I also love to share poems any way…
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Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the review copy of “In the Blood” by Carl Phillips. I am not familiar with Carl Phillips’ work, which is an embarrassing admission to have to make as he is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the recipient of several other literary awards. “In the Blood” was…
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Thank you NetGalley and Amistad Publishing for the review copy of Tramaine Suubi’s collection “Stages.” Tramaine Suubi is a relatively new poet, and I feel they are going to go places. Suubi writes in freestyle, slipping through language with the grace of a dancer. They play with words, bringing depth to what could have been…
