“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
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
“The heavy rain of the south falls over Isla Negra” by Pablo Neruda
The heavy rain of the south falls over Isla Negra The heavy rain of the south falls over Isla Negra like a solitary drop transparent and weighty: the sea opens its cool leaves to receive… Continue Reading
“This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams
This Is Just To Say I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold . William… Continue Reading
“So Much Happiness” by Naomi Shihab Nye
So Much Happiness It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.With sadness there is something to rub against,a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.When the world falls in around you,… Continue Reading
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Dog The dog trots freely in the streetand sees realityand the things he seesare bigger than himselfand the things he seesare his realityDrunks in doorwaysMoons on treesThe dog trots freely thru the streetand the things… Continue Reading
“On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou
On the Pulse of Morning A Rock, A River, A TreeHosts to species long since departed,Marked the mastodon,The dinosaur, who left dried tokensOf their sojourn hereOn our planet floor,Any broad alarm of their hastening doomIs… Continue Reading
“The Subject of Retreat” by Yona Harvey
The Subject of Retreat in the storm. The snowwe don’t mentionclings to your boots & powders& puffs. & poof. Goes.Dust of the fallen. Right hereat home. The acheof someone gone-missing. Walk it offlike a misspoken… Continue Reading