Tweetspeak Poetry’s recent poetry jam on Twitter used Ted Kooser’s “The Poetry Home Repair Manual” for prompts — with some surprising results.
Tattoo Poetry: Jealousy Between the Inks
Be a tattoo that has had to share the body that bears it. How do you feel about the other tattoos?
Poetry Classroom: Four Sarabandes—Yo-Yo Ma
Come discuss the Yo-Yo Ma section of “Four Sarabandes, ” in today’s poetry classroom.
Poets and Poems: 99 Psalms by SAID
Poets and Poems features the German poet SAID’s new collection of poetry, 99 Psalms, which is less about worship and more about our human condition.
Poetry Classroom: Kansas
Our poetry classroom features an Americana poem: “Kansas.” Discuss with the poet!
The Horribly Tragic Deaths of Many of My Favourite Characters—Poem 1, Holmes and Watson
In the spirit of Edward Gorey, a series of illustrations and poems that chronicle the demise of favorite literary characters. Poem 1: Holmes and Watson.
Tattoo Poetry: Ode on a Grecian Urn Prompt
Tattoo poetry is permanent poetry—captured by the body that bears it. There’s a sense in which it is locked in time and form, much the way the painted Greek lovers were perpetually locked to the vase in “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
Poetry Video: The Country, Billy Collins
A witty poetry video featuring, well, a mouse. An entertaining animated poem, from Billy Collins.
Poets and Poems: Patricia Smith
This week’s “Poets and Poems” highlights Patricia Smith’s work, including her poem “They Romp with Wooly Canines” and her performance of “Skinhead.”
Poetry Classroom: Iowa Tocatta
Welcome to this month’s poetry classroom, with poet and professor David Wright. Come discuss “Iowa” at Tweetspeak Poetry.
Tattoo Poetry: The Ink’s Journey Prompt
Tattoo poetry is *ink transforming*—telling a story or covering one, or giving a person something to live into that is yet untold.
Poets and Poems: Talking About Movies with Jesus
A review of David Kirby’s “Talking About Movies with Jesus: Poems” that uses the style of the poems as the structure of the review.
Poetry: The Teachers Who Teach Us
The teachers we have in middle school and high school can have a profound influence on how we understand and appreciate poetry throughout our lives.
Top 10 Funny Poems
What makes for funny poems? Maybe the same things that make any writing funny. Enjoy a laugh and these ten funny poems.
Poets and Poems: Seamus Heaney
Appreciating poets and poems even more by reading Seamus Heaney’s “Opened Ground” alongside Frank O’Driscoll’s “Stepping Stones, ” whose interviews add depth to the poems.
Bottled & Canned: A Secret Poetry Prompt
Think of a secret you want or need to preserve. Put it in a bottle or can. Will it go in easily? This is poetry. We don’t need to know the actual secret.
Poetry Review: Frank Bidart’s “Metaphysical Dog”
Frank Bidart’s latest poetry collection, Metaphysical Dog, should be read as one long poem rather than 39 individual poems.
Bottled & Canned: Surprise Poetry Prompt
Have you ever opened a can, only to find something unexpected? Now’s your chance.
Is Poetry Going to the Dogs?
What he did for cats, Francesco Marciuliano has now done for dogs: “I Could Chew on This, and Other Poems by Dogs.”
Bottles & Cans: A Playlist and Poetry Prompt
Can you put bottles and cans in your poems? Join us for our new Bottled & Canned theme, and a brand new playlist and poetry prompt.