TODAY!

Beautiful poems from David Graham at Verse-Virtual (www.verse-virtual.org/2025/March/g...)

Today it was time to re-read some Paul Violi. Facebook has many problems but one thing I like is that every day it often reminds me of something I have forgotten. Today my post from 10 years ago probably meant that I was first reading Violi's *Selected Poems* and enjoying it greatly.

Re-reading William Stafford. This poem from his 1987 collection *An Oregon Message* struck a nerve for me then, and has continued to grow since then. It occurred to me today that this poem was published when he was about 73. I'm soon about to turn 72, and "come to the edge" of "the very old":

Here's an early notice for a poetry reading coming up. I'm honored to be part of the Writers Project at SUNY Adirondack in Queensbury NY. I just love to say I'll be appearing at a building called Dearlove . . .

I also recommend this book.

I brought this beauty home today. Hundreds of Le Guin's poems that I've not read. Oh boy! Plus her translation of Lao Tzu's TAO TE CHING, about which I've heard good things. And a little lyric to whet your appetite. I think this book will live on my desk for a good while as I savor and sip. . . .

Three new poems in the new issue of LIVE ENCOUNTERS: liveencounters.net/2025-le-pw/d...

ICYMI! Fantastic conversation with @marthasilano.bsky.social on #poetry, illness, partnership, and what's to come! 🎉🎉🎉

"Writing a little bit each day is akin to leaving the faucets dripping on a cold January night; while the ideas are flowing the creative pipes won’t freeze." ~ @marthasilano.bsky.social

“The president extemporized with a blithe disregard for established fact.”

"This keeping vigil, this poet’s labor of naming the many forms of our pain without giving in to “the tragedy or temptation of turning ... life into myth when it is really all piss and marrow,” rewards the reader at every turn" Luisa A. Igloria rhinopoetry.org/reviews/sean...

A favorite poem by Lorna Crozier, one of my favorite Canadian poets. We poets in the U.S. don't pay enough attention to poets from our neighbor to the north.

"And what is more generous than a window?" From Pat Schneider's book, The Weight of Love: bookshop.org/a/862/978094... #poem #patschneider #poetry #books #writers

I'm reading Alex Dimitrov's LOVE AND OTHER POEMS and wondering, not for the first time, how many strangely good poets I somehow haven't heard of till now. "I love the January sky and knowing it will change although unlike us. . . " --Alex Dimitrov, *Love," a fragment of his "endless poem."

A poem George Franklin wrote for me back in the day mattermonthly.com/2019/03/10/n...

Thanks to Hayley Mitchell Haugen for including my poem in the latest issue of Sheila-Na-Gig online. I am currently circulating a manuscript called "Sounds Like Singing." This is the title poem. sheilanagigblog.com/poetry-archi... #poetry #poetrycommunity

Pine needle italics

And here's the title poem, from this month's POETRY: www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...

I wish more poets talked about the late John Engman. I keep returning to his poems, which aren't quite like anyone else's. Here's one that brightens my day with his typical bittersweetness and humor. I wish I had any photos of glads, but I hope an amaryllis would work. . . . #poetry #forgottenpoet

Zeno’s icicle droplet

RIP Michael Burkard — a devastating loss for poetry. I’ll be saying hello to the moon 🕯️🌙

I don't know about you but sometimes I need a dose of optimism. This poem's got you covered.

A few years ago I was smitten by the poems of Anele Rubin's debut TRYING TO SPEAK, which won the Wick Poetry Prize from Kent State. Chosen & introduced by Philip Levine. I remembered it today and thought I should re-read it again. Here's a sample.

Lyn Lifshin

Been loving all the solstice poems folks are posting today.

Happy Winter Solstice to all in the northern hemisphere. The turn of the year's tide, a pivot-point, a day of hope—when the dark stops rising & after which the Sun begins its slow climb back. A day I celebrate more than Christmas or New Year. Fiat lux! 📷 by @annieworsley.bsky.social

The solstice says “everything on earth is True.” --Jim Harrison. *Jim Harrison: Complete Poems* (p. 676). Copper Canyon Press. ["The Schroon River. December 2024." David Graham]

Lately I've been catching up with *The New Yorker Poetry* podcasts. Today I listened to Natasha Trethewey discussing Charles Wright's "Toadstools" with Kevin Young. I've like every podcasts I've listened to. This one is from 2019. "Toadstools" from *The New Yorker*, 3 May 2010.

If you like Wislawa Szymborska as I do, you should check out Ilya Kaminsky's link. He did a wonderful "10 day book club" on her work--all free.

IT’S POETRY DAY! From 1948 nominations for 368 magazines, here is who our community has named the Best Poetry Lit Mags of 2024!!! ⬇️ Their details & how to submit your poems www.chillsubs.com/lists/commun...

Wish I'd written this poem. But then, I often feel that about Lee Upton's poems. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Today's Poetry Thread: GRIEF Feel free to add poems.

I remember the first time I read Nikki Giovanni’s “Allowables” — being overcome by the extraordinary thing she taught me about my own fear, its murderousness. And she did this not by standing above me, but by turning quietly and saying: see what we did?

Ah, those were the days. The holidays were looming, but I was still reading student papers and getting ready for finals. . . . I kept up my spirits by keeping a list of wonderful typos. One of my favorites was this one: "punctual errors." I should write that poem. . . . Got any wonderful typos?

"The cigarette, like your life, is a piece of chalk that shrinks as it tries to explain." --Bert Meyers, fr. "After the Meal." BERT MEYERS ON THE LIFE & WORK OF AN AMERICAN MASTER." Ed. Dana Levin & Adele Elise Williams. I love discovering a poet new to me. The UNSUNG MASTERS series is wonderful.

Crazy Trees

Had a dream that I was closely examining a receipt where I’d been charged, among other items, for $9 worth of ghosts, & I was calculating in my head what I should overtip on top of that.

I second that motion.

If you've got 14 minutes, you *should* watch this video, "Poetry is Not a Luxury," with Martha Silano and her wonderful poems and bright spirit. vimeo.com/1033914328/f...

"Low ceiling." Now that winter's fully begun, I seem to take many photos in color that mimic monochrome. This photo is from 3 years ago today--we're not at the lake today, but that lake view always soothes me.

When I need a jump-start in the journal for my daily entry, I often grab a phrase/line from a poet I love. Lately Frank O'Hara's given me lovely prompts for a week. Poets, I'm interested what prompts you to get started. . . .

Here in the US, we speak with reverence of authentic experience. But as any poet can tell you, one often sees better with eyes closed than with eyes wide open.” Charles Simic

One of the best tiny poems.

The poem is worth just for its title. Then it gets better. Gratitude for all teachers.

And that orange, it made me so happy / As ordinary things often do

New #poetry from Jared Beloff @read_instead: "Wheatfield with Crows".

Turns out that this new social media app is perfect for perfectly wonderful very brief poems. As it happens, I love brief poems. Thanks for those who have posted their own favorites, which have brightened my days in a blighted time. Here's a favorite by Jacques Prévert I've loved for a long time.

Probably the first great poet I fell for--back in college--was Denise Levertov. This poem has lived near my heart for all those years. Today it reminds me of Thanksgiving and much else: "being / hungry, and plucking / the fruit"