“Pale Colors in a Tall Field” by Carl Phillips invites you into a dream, asking unexpected if important questions.
Poetry Prompt: So Many Other Better Things To Do
Callie Feyen finds poetry for the crisis, both external and internal. Join her for a summer poetry prompt about what to do besides worry.
Poets and Poems: Angela Alaimo O’Donnell and “Love in the Time of Coronavirus”
“Love in the Time of Coronavirus” by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell is the poet’s journal of the pandemic year and its change and upheaval.
Poetry Prompt: Peonies on How To Open Up
Join author Callie Feyen as she explores what it means to open ourselves up in this world. Just like the peonies.
Poets and Poems: Loren Broaddus and “Joe DiMaggio Moves Like Liquid Light”
“Joe DiMaggio Moves Like Liquid Light” by Loren Broaddus is a collection of poems about baseball, but, like baseball, it’s about a lot more.
Poets and Poems: John Martin Finlay and “Dense Poems & Socratic Light”
“Dense Poems & Socratic Light” by John Martin Finlay is the best collection of the poet’s published and unpublished work available.
An Ode to Poetry: “How to Write a Form Poem” by Tania Runyan
“How to Write a Form Poem” by Tania Runyan is a guide to 10 poetic forms. It also stands as an ode to poetry.
Poetry Prompt: Notebooks Trying To Tell
What have you been trying to tell yourself? Callie Feyen finds patterns, threads, and whispers in an old journal and “Kristin Lavransdatter.”
Reconsidering History: Natasha Trethewey and “Native Guard”
In “Native Guard,” poet Natasha Trethewey considers what history often forgets, in this case a Black regiment that fought for the Union.
Poets and Poems: James Tweedie and “Mostly Sonnets”
“Mostly Sonnets” by James Tweedie shows how the poetic form can also be used for important subjects other than love.
A Blessing for Writers
What does the writer need in order to go forward? So many things. This “blessing for writers” wishes them for you, beginning with a silken string…
Poets and Poems: Brad Lussier and “How Does He Love Me?”
The 47 sonnets of “How Does He Love Me?” by Brad Lussier remind us that love is transcendent, eternal and unchanging.
An Epic Told in 500 Sonnets: “The Gift of Life” by Amanda Hall
In “The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse,” poet Amanda Hall employs some 500 sonnets to tell a story of love amid contemporary life and culture.
By Heart: ‘One Art’ + New Tess Gallagher Challenge
What have you lost today? Poet Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” invites us into the art of losing in this month’s By Heart.
Poets and Poems: Osip Mandelstam and “Poems”
Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938) was a leading poet in the Silver Age of Russian poetry, until ran afoul of the Stalinist regime.
Poets and Poems: Chandra Gurung and “My Father’s Face”
The 47 poems of “My Father’s Face” by Chandra Gurung point to the contradictions of life inherent in all cultures and societies.
Poetry Prompt: Small Things
Join author Callie Feyen as she acknowledges some beastly feelings, and through the gift of small things, turns them into poetry.
Poets and Poems: Charles Hughes and “The Evening Sky”
The poetry of “The Evening Sky” by Charles Hughes speaks to the mortality of life and focusing on what truly matters.
By Heart: ‘blessing the boats’ + New Elizabeth Bishop Challenge
For Black History Month, we learn Lucille Clifton’s “blessing the boats” By Heart and consider the memory of a Chilean sea.
Poets and Poems: Samuel Hazo and “The Next Time We Saw Paris”
“The Next Time We Saw Paris” by Samuel Hazo is a poetry collection filled with wisdom, understanding, and the directness of experience.