Autopsy

  Here is a poem by Native American poet Sherman Alexie: Autopsy   Last night, I dreamed that my passport bled. I dreamed that my passport was a tombstone For our United States, recently dead. I dreamed that my passport was made of bone—   That it was a canoe carved out of stone. “But

There but for Fortune

Phil Ochs was an American singer-songwriter of the 1960’s. Here are the lyrics to one of his most famous songs: There but For Fortune     by Phil Ochs   Show me a prison, show me a jail Show me a prisoner whose face has gone pale And I’ll show you a young man with so many

Territory vs. Property

  Here’s a poem by American poet  Elizabeth Savage: Territory vs Property “Let me recite what history teaches. History teaches.”                                                             Gertrude Stein   East rails into west where safe belies spent & the whitetail leaps over whitewashed fence & whitewater streams like a darkened spring down the desolate face of June as bodies

Elixir of Life

What came to mind was the first book of the Harry Potter series. Here is the excerpt: Extract from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling ‘Nicolas Flamel,’ she whispered dramatically, ‘is the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone!’ This didn’t have quite the effect she’d expected. ‘The what?’ said Harry and

where the warblers go to eat the purple berries

  Here is a poem of mine from about 20 years ago, set at one of my favorite places in Cape May New Jersey:     Rain on the Hedgerows at Higbee Beach     I do desire you, God. Your touch like rain on my face, Rain on the landscape of my heart, Like

Born on a Green Day

  My birthday is April 27, so about thirty years ago I wrote this poem: April Birth   I was born on a green day with shoots of April green sparks flashing in the trees. Light green leaves pushing white blossoms into flight, having just arrived, Olive green birds with white breasts jumping from branch

I’ve had my share of necessary losses

    Here’s a poem by Judith Viorst:   The Pleasures of Ordinary Life     I’ve had my share of necessary losses, Of dreams I know no longer can come true. I’m done now with the whys and the becauses. It’s time to make things good, not just make do. It’s time to stop

Symptoms from the Doctor

Here’s a poem by American poet/physician  Raphael Campo: What the Body Told By Rafael Campo   Not long ago, I studied medicine. It was terrible, what the body told. I’d look inside another person’s mouth, And see the desolation of the world. I’d see his genitals and think of sin.   Because my body speaks

Cry Aloud at What Has Happened

Gulf Coast Sunset    by Laura XFire   Here’s a poem by Robert Frost: Acceptance   When the spent sun throws up its rays on cloud And goes down burning into the gulf below, No voice in nature is heard to cry aloud At what has happened. Birds, at least must know It is the change

to see the world in a grain of sand

Writer Meg Winikates, in her blog on Massachusetts poetry,said that “poetry delivers maximum impact with minimum word count. Each word bears greater weight than in average daily conversation, and each line is precisely crafted to fit the scope of its sense. “ Even though this poem by William Blake is far from minimal, his “auguries”