Snow Day Today we woke up to a revolution of snow, its white flag waving over everything, the landscape vanished, not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness, and beyond these windows the government buildings smothered, schools and libraries buried,… Read More ›
Poems
Poem of the Week: Christmas Sparrow by Billy Collins
Christmas Sparrow The first thing I heard this morning was a soft, insistent rustle, the rapid flapping of wings against glass as it turned out, a small bird rioting in the frame of a high window, trying to hurl itself… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: Shoveling Snow with Buddha by Billy Collins
Shoveling Snow with Buddha In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok you would never see him doing such a thing, tossing the dry snow over a mountain of his bare, round shoulder, his hair tied in… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: The Daughter Goes To Camp by Sharon Olds
The Daughter Goes To Camp In the taxi alone, home from the airport, I could not believe you were gone. My palm kept creeping over the smooth plastic to find your strong meaty little hand and squeeze it, find your… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens
The Snow Man One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been cold a long time To behold the junipers shagged with ice, The spruces rough… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: Walking Across the Atlantic by Billy Collins
Walking Across The Atlantic I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach before stepping onto the first wave. Soon I am walking across the Atlantic thinking about Spain, checking for whales, waterspouts. I feel the water holding up… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: air and light and time and space by Charles Bukowski
air and light and time and space “– you know, I’ve either had a family, a job, something has always been in the way but now I’ve sold my house, I’ve found this place, a large studio, you should see… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: Central Park by Billy Collins
Central Park It’s hard to describe how that day in the park was altered when I stopped to read an official sign I came across near the great carousel, my lips moving silently like the lips of Saint Ambrose. As… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: After a Death by Tomas Tranströmer
After a Death Once there was a shock that left behind a long, shimmering comet tail. It keeps us inside. It makes the TV pictures snowy. It settles in cold drops on the telephone wires. One can still go slowly… Read More ›
Poem of the Week: To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl
To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl From his new collection, Aimless Love “Do you realize that if you had started building the Parthenon on the day you were born, you would be all done in only one more year?… Read More ›