Games by Jack Gilbert Imagine if suffering were real. Imagine if those old people were afraid of death. What if the midget or the girl with one arm really felt pain? Imagine how impossible it would be to live if some people were alone and afraid all their lives. I […]
MoreDecember 2012, a friend turning fifty hosted a celebratory tea at an elegant hotel, and I misbehaved. I had no reason to be disagreeable—every element of the afternoon was to my liking. My friend is British (I’m a sucker for Brits), a woman with the effortless good manners I associate with her country and the […]
MoreVariation on a Theme by Rilke by Denise Levertov A certain day became a presence to me; there it was, confronting me–a sky, air, light: a being. And before it started to descend from the height of noon, it leaned over and struck my shoulder as if with the flat of a sword, […]
MoreAs a rule, Poem Elf works in secret, but today I made an exception. In broad daylight I handed the Walt Whitman election poem to campaigners outside my local precinct. I was nervous, but there was no need to be. I had expected more crowds and more last-minute campaigning, but outside the high […]
MoreThe week before Halloween seems the right time to share an image that’s haunted me since I first saw it a few years ago. “Caroline” is a mixed media photograph created by my old friend Trish Rawlings, an artist and writer living in Baltimore. The photograph is taken from a series called Revenant, meaning “one […]
MoreThe Ticket by Anne Porter On the night table Beside my bed I keep a small Blue ticket – One day I found it In my pocket-book I don’t know how It got there – I don’t know What it’s for – On one side There’s a number 98833 And INDIANA TICKET COMPANY – And […]
MoreI’m in love. I’m reading Parrot & Olivier in America by Australian Peter Carey. I’m thinking about the book all the time, taking it to bed, and not wanting our relationship to ever end. Carey’s books have a crazy reckless energy that I associate with Australians in general (oh, my old friend Pippi Woodger!), and this […]
MoreExperienced bloggers advise newbies, “Post early and often.” Doggone it, I just can’t seem to do that. Notwithstanding the fact that I don’t think clearly before 10 a.m., I also couldn’t post one of my long poetry responses every single day. I’d burn out in a month and so would my readers. But I do […]
MoreI Have News for You by Tony Hoagland There are people who do not see a broken playground swing as a symbol of ruined childhood and there are people who don’t interpret the behavior of a fly in a motel room as a mocking representation of their thought process. There are people who don’t walk […]
MoreCome, Let Us Find by William Henry Davies Come, let us find a cottage, love, That’s green for half a mile around; To laugh at every grumbling bee, Whose sweetest blossom’s not yet found. Where many a bird shall sing for you, And in your garden build its nest: They’ll sing for you […]
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