Poetry Friday: Poetry Month--The Penultimate Poem

My daughter came to work with me today. Thought this one was a good one to share. I just discovered it in Garrison Keilor's anthology Good Poems for Hard Times:


"For My Daughter"
by David Ignatow
When I die choose a star
and name it after me
that you may know
I have not abandoned
or forgotten you.
You were such a star to me,
following you through birth
and childhood, my hand
in your hand.


Read the rest of the poem here. And be sure to check out the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted at The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha's awesome blog.

National Poetry Month: 30 New Poems--the 28th Poem

Some poets are just able to capture a moment in magical ways. I think Raymond Carver captures this moment perfectly:

"Happiness"
by Raymond Carver
So early it's still almost dark out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.
When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.
They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these boys.
I think if they could, they would take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together

Read the entire poem here.

As April wanes away, be sure to check back to see our final two poems tomorrow and Saturday!

National Poetry Month: 30 New Poems--Slacker Update

I was doing so well bringing you new (to me) poems in celebration of National Poetry Month...then life intervened. Nothing major, but lots of minor. All apologies. Can I make it up to you, dear readers, by posting the 6 poems I'd intended to post during my absence? I'll try anyway...

• "I've Never Seen Days Such as This" by Sholeh Wolpe
• "The Point at Which My Wife Enters a Poem..." by Albert Goldbarth
• "Smoke in Our Hair" by Ofelia Zepeda
• "Valet of the Shadow of Death" by Elizabeth Willis
• "Self Portrait as Thousandfurs" by Stacy Gnall
• "Least Said" by Olena Kalytiak Davis

I am pretty sure I can get back on track for the last 3 days of Poetry Month. Cross your fingers!

National Poetry Month: 30 New Poems--Poem 21

For the first time, I almost didn't make the deadline...almost didn't get this posted. Time crunch today, so once again, I'm forced to post and run...

"Sci-Fi"
by Tracy K. Smith

There will be no edges, but curves.
Clean lines pointing only forward.

History, with its hard spine & dog-eared
Corners, will be replaced with nuance,

Just like the dinosaurs gave way
To mounds and mounds of ice.

Women will still be women, but
The distinction will be empty. Sex,

Having outlived every threat, will gratify
Only the mind, which is where it will exist.

For kicks, we'll dance for ourselves
Before mirrors studded with golden bulbs.

The oldest among us will recognize that glow—
But the word sun will have been re-assigned

To a Standard Uranium-Neutralizing device
Found in households and nursing homes.

Read the entire poem here. And keep enjoying National Poetry Month. It's almost over!

National Poetry Month: 30 New Poems--20 of 30

Some times, it's just good to share a poem and just let it hang there.

"Exact"
by Rae Armantrout

Quick, before you die,
describe

the exact shade
of this hotel carpet.

What is the meaning
of the irregular, yellow

spheres, some
hollow,

gathered in patches
on this bedspread?

If you love me,
worship

the objects
I have caused

to represent me
in my absence.

Read the rest here. See you tomorrow.

National Poetry Month: 30 New Poems--19th poem

More prose poetry for you to enjoy. A new (to me) poem by Ray Gonzalez:

"And There Were Swallows"
by Ray Gonzalez
  Tadpoles seeing the future for the first time, monuments against the tide when the bats flew in and out of Carlsbad Caverns, cycles of burned ghosts who fell into the secret caves in the late nineteenth century.

   And there were swallows in the memory of lust, hundreds of them guarding the opening in the desert, shadows plunging below the waist to guess where the body begins, where the soul stops searching, darting wings captivated by the flame in the will where the wind becomes the sound inherited after stepping too far into the mind.

Read the final two stanzas here. Have I mentioned how much I love the new Poetry Foundation website? I'm going to need to blog about that in detail in May. That and so many other things! Until then, enjoy the rest of National Poetry Month and the ten remaining poems in this series.

National Poetry Month: 30 New Poems--Poem 18

Long poems can be intimidating on many levels--they take a lot of time, require a lot of thinking, etc. etc. At least that's what some people think. Personally, I don't adore them, but if I find a good one, I'll give it a good read and file it away for sharing or re-reading.

Here's one by Mark Jarman that's broken into parts and that has some vivid imagery. I'm sharing the first and last sections today:

Dispatches from Devereux Slough
by Mark Jarman

Black Phoebe

Highwayman of the air, coal-headed, darting
Plunderer of gnat hordes, lasso with beak –

"Surely, that fellow creature on the wing,"
The phoebe thinks, "should fly like this."

                     And loops
His flight path in a wiry noose, takes wing
Like a cast line and hits the living fly,

Ripping it from the fluid of its life.

Heaven

When we are reunited after death,
The owls will call among the eucalyptus,
The white tailed kite will arc across the mesa,
And sunset cast orange light from the Pacific
Against the golden bush and eucalyptus
Where flowers and fruit and seeds appear all seasons
And our paired silhouettes are waiting for us.

Read the entire poem at poets.org. I love how the sections go together, but each one is unique and can stand on its own. I also have a thing for poems and songs with geographic references. Apparently Devereux Slough is an estuary that's a part of the Coal Oil Point Reserve near Santa Barbara, California. (Thank you, Google!)