Seven men on the rock upon the house
By Marion Sarain Stump, 1945-1974, Cree/Shoshone/Salish, U.S./Canada. Seven men on the rock upon the houseThe deadman’s head is laughingAt my mistakesA lazy flyin’ of crows …
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
By Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932, U.S. Do not stand at my grave and weepI am not there; I do not sleep.I am a thousand winds …
won’t you celebrate with me
Lucille Clifton, 1936-2010, U.S. won’t you celebrate with mewhat i have shaped intoa kind of life? i had no model.born in babylonboth nonwhite and womanwhat …
Hurricane
By Yona Harvey, U.S. Four tickets left, I let her go—Firstborn into a hurricane. I thought she escapedThe floodwaters. No—but her Head is empty of …
Let America Be America Again
By Langston Hughes, 1902-1967, U.S. Let America be America again.Let it be the dream it used to be.Let it be the pioneer on the plainSeeking …
The War Against The Trees
By Stanley Kunitz, 1905-2006, U.S. The man who sold his lawn to standard oilJoked with his neighbors come to watch the showWhile the bulldozers, drunk …
Open House
By Theodore Roethke, 1908-1963, U.S. My secrets cry aloud.I have no need for tongue.My heart keeps open house,My doors are widely swung.An epic of the …
The Moose
By Elizabeth Bishop. For Grace Bulmer Bowers, Elizabeth Bishop’s aunt From narrow provinces of fish and bread and tea, home of the long tideswhere the bay leaves …
The Dream Songs, 14
By John Berryman, 1914-1972, U.S. Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and …
You Still Dream
By Nikki Grimes, b.1950, U.S. Here, poem meets prayer.We are exceedingly comfortablewith posturing and self-defensethat masquerade as apology.But what’s needed in this momentis unmixed confessionof …