The nights are short and sometimes the holidays are hard. Find comfort in this month’s By Heart column, in which we wrap up our memorization of Jane Kenyon’s “Let Evening Come.”
Poets and Poems: James Matthew Wilson and “The Hanging God”
The poems of “The Hanging God” by James Matthew Wilson present an irresistible urge, almost a compulsion, to reread them to find new layers of meaning.
Poetry Prompt: The Farm—Endings and Pretending
What poetry can be found in an ending? Can we play pretend long enough to believe? Join Callie Feyen as she writes about disintegrated definitions and why poets make some of the best friends.
Writing Prompt: Play With Your Food
Creative nonfiction writer, Callie Feyen, takes help from poet Tania Runyan to write food poetry. Come along and craft your own poem or story—purple carrots optional!
Memoir Notebook: Three Summers, Part One: The Seed
A city boy goes to spend the summer on a farm in rural Ohio, and the experience stays with him into his golden years, still surprising him with the way it reveals plain and not-so-plain truths.
Poetry Prompt: Find a Farm Skeleton
Creative nonfiction writer, Callie Feyen, takes help from poet Tania Runyan to try to write farm poetry. Come along and craft your own (with or without the talking goat.)
The Poetry of Farming: “Water at the Roots” by Philip Britts
“Water in the Roots,” a collection of the writings and poetry of Philip Britts, describes the life, faith, and farming practices of the Bruderhof community.
Indiana Poet Laureate Shari Wagner
Charity Singleton Craig meets Indiana Poet Laureate Shari Wagner and considers how to make poetry more accessible to more people.
Poetry and Memory: Thomas Lux’s “Child Made of Sand”
“Child Made of Sand” is not the poetry of youth; it is the poetry of wisdom and understanding. Glynn Young reviews Thomas Lux’s new collection of poems.
Poems from the House of Memory – 3
Poems from the farm, including Grandma and Grandpa, tin cans, nickels and pie.
Poems from the House of Memory – 2
“Once, we walked with tin cans to the small dairy for milk.” Thus begins this buttery, poignant poem from the farm, or the heart.
InsideOut: Poems by L.L. Barkat
A year outside brings us to a year inside. Poems of nature, dreams, sensual love. Divided by seasons, the poems explore the range of human experience.
Louise Gluck’s Poetry: “A Village Life”
Louise Gluck’s poetry tells simple stories about farm workers, shop owners, the elderly, cats let out at night, teenagers falling in love and more.