What does freedom mean? L.L. Barkat considers the complications of this timeless question, in the company of tractor pulls, rifle shining, a trilling creek, and angora rabbit clouds.
Featured Posts
A Story in Every Soul: Step By Classical Step
Dheepa R. Maturi shares how a story by E.M. Forster stirs hope, motivating her to re-examine her role in protecting the earth, step by step.
Read Like a Writer: C.E. Morgan’s Personification Technique in “All the Living”
In the latest Read Like a Writer column, Charlotte Donlon explores the use of personification technique to bring words to life.
Longfellow, Whitman, Wheatley: Whatever Happened to Patriotic Poems?
Patriotic poems like “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “I Hear America Singing” were once quite common, but can you think of a patriotic poem of the last 20 years?
Poetry Prompt: Fall Invitation Poems
Writer Callie Feyen takes advice from poet Tania Runyan and instead of describing, she invites the reader into a memory of a fall day.
Difficult Conversations Book Club: Let’s First Hear from Aunt Bertha
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Children’s Book Club: “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl”
If you read ‘Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl’ before 1998, you haven’t read the most complete version. Join us as we discuss the least-known parts of the world’s best-known diary.
Random Highlights from Random Acts of Poetry Day
We take stock of another richly celebrated Random Acts of Poetry Day with schools, city governments, libraries, refrigerators and … squirrels.
The Poetry of Silence: The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam
To enter the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, with its rooms approximating where eight people hid for two years, is to enter the poetry of silence.
Fall Poetry Prompt: Coming Home Poems
A new name for an old tradition takes author Callie Feyen on a trip down memory lane, and she finds herself at home on a rainy fall evening. Come home, too, with your own poems!
Difficult Conversations Pod Club: On Being’s “The Art of Peace” with John Paul Lederach
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Reader, Come Home: September’s Pages
Do you deep read? Or has your reading entered the danger zone? Come learn the secrets of being a deep reader with Megan Willome. Share your September pages. And, come home.
It’s Random Acts of Poetry Day!
Do some good in the world today—and maybe change the course of someone’s life. Celebrate Random Acts of Poetry Day by sharing a poem, or listening for one.
Traveling with Mark Twain and Eddy Harris on the Mississippi River
Writer Eddy Harris canoed the Mississippi River in 1985, and he discovered that the river has its personality, its mood, and its conversations.
Poetry Prompt: October, Fall, and Foliage “As In” Poems
October, as fresh and beautiful as it is, lends itself to cliche. This week, try an “As In” poem to see and describe October, fall, and foliage in a new way.
By Hand: By Heart—Ulysses
By Hand is a monthly prompt focused on freeing our words by using our hands. This month, Megan Willome shares the connection between our hands and our hearts as we prepare to launch By Heart in October.
Why Put a Poem in Your Heart?
