Poem of the Week: “No Map” by Stephen Dobyns

No Map   How close the clouds press this October first and the rain—a gray scarf across the sky. In separate hospitals my father and a dear friend lie waiting for their respective operations, hours on a table as surgeons crack their chests. They were so brave when I talked to them last as they

Poem of the Week: “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch. I

Poem of the Week: “Why We Tell Stories” by Lisel Mueller

I Because we used to have leaves and on damp days our muscles feel a tug, painful now, from when roots pulled us into the ground and because our children believe they can fly, an instinct retained from when the bones in our arms were shaped like zithers and broke neatly under their feathers and

“Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100” by Martin Espada

“Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100” by Martin Espada In memory of those lost in 9/11, Laurie suggested sharing this poem by Brooklyn poet Martin Espada. Click on the post title to see the entire poem. Link via poets.org.