poems
2020 Countdown, day two: Take me to the river
On the second to last day of this sad and strange year, we turn to yet another poet who died in 2020. I left Lisel Mueller ‘s “Bedtime Story” on the banks of the Rouge River in suburban Michigan. Bedtime Story by Lisel Mueller The moon lies on the river like a […]
MoreMiss Jones, AngelBuster
Like so . . . In the Library by Charles Simic for Octavio There’s a book called “A Dictionary of Angels.” No one has opened it in fifty years, I know, because when I did, The covers creaked, the pages Crumbled. There I discovered The angels were once as plentiful […]
MoreA young poet for the young year
Alaska With Jess by Jacqueline Zeisloft Whipping past black spruces and white ones, too we weave; fast enough for falling thistles not to land in our hair. I am not cold But you are. Little complainer, I love you. A scarf in August, shielding your soft face, blinding you to the mountains […]
MoreAnd send a thank-you note of course
A Drink of Water by Seamus Heaney She came every morning to draw water Like an old bat staggering up the field: The pump’s whooping cough, the bucket’s clatter And slow diminuendo as it filled, Announced her. I recall Her grey apron, the pocked white enamel Of the brimming bucket, and the treble […]
MoreDe-hoarding de poems
This is a picture of the jam jars in my pantry. I count thirteen and that doesn’t include the outpost colony of orange marmalade and apricot preserves that live in the back of my refrigerator. The jars have sat unused for at least a year, some much longer. If it were up to my […]
MoreQuarters and kindness
Forgive the unpolished copies of these poems and quotes, the yellow notepaper, the terrible handwriting, though I did try my best. This is what happens when Poem Elf has an idea but no printer, no scotch tape and no finesse with a pen. My idea was to honor two people who are gone […]
MoreAloha, Walt!
“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat […]
MoreSixth annual Valentine’s Blitz meets a glitch
The sixth annual Poem Elf Valentine’s Day Poem Blitz ran into some glitches this year, which is why it’s arriving so late. I knew it was going to be a few hours late because I’m on Hawaii time, but I didn’t expect (who does) to wake up on Valentine’s Day and discover my purse was […]
MoreLet us go watch a short video
Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious […]
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