“My Father. A Tree.” by Tina Chang
My Father. A Tree. Today, longing for my father, I saw a solitary bleached owl skim the dark grasses. It swept so low to the ground it might have buried itself. I did not know… Continue Reading
“Poetry” by Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Poetry I spent one hour thinking of a verse my pen does not want to write. Yet, it is here inside restless, alive. It is here inside and does not wish to get out. But… Continue Reading
“Too Many Names” by Pablo Neruda
Too Many Names Monday entangles itself with Tuesday and the week with the year: time cannot be severed with your weary shears, and all the names of the day the water of night clears. No… Continue Reading
“How Do I Know When a Poem is Finished?” by Naomi Shihab Nye
How Do I Know When a Poem is Finished? When you quietly closethe door to a roomthe room is not finished. It is resting. Temporarily.Glad to be without youfor a while. Now it has time… Continue Reading
“Pale Blue Dot” by Carl Sagan
Pale Blue Dot Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out… Continue Reading
“The Perfect Poem” by Kaveh Akbar
The Perfect Poem In god’s gleaming empire, herds of triceratops lunge up on their hind legs to somersault around the plains. The angels lie in the sun using straight pins to eat hollyhocks. Mostly they… Continue Reading
“One More Love Poem” by Dunya Mikhail
One More Love Poem If I had one more day I would write a love poem composed of one word repeated like binary code. I’ll multiply it by the number of days that passed without… Continue Reading
25 Tips for Musicians by Thelonious Monk
25 Tips for Musicians In 1960 jazz pianist Thelonious Monk wrote down a list of tips for his new saxophonist Steve Lacy. A reproduction of Lacy's transcription of this advice is included below. Just because… Continue Reading