(This is the page for Contemporary Poetry.)

"Poetry’s project is to use every aspect of language to its maximum effectiveness, finding within it nuances and powers we otherwise could not hear. So the poet needs to be a supreme handler of the figurative speech we all use every day, employing language’s tendency to connect like and disparate things to the richest possible effects.” 

Mark Doty

The Art of Description

Colleen Abel, "Loving B.F. Skinner"

Pamela Alexander, “Letter Home”

Kazim Ali, from "my promise a swan: to alice coltrane"

Maya Angelou, “Late October”

Christian Barter, “Poem for the End of the World”
Christian Barter, “Something Else”
Christian Barter, “The School Bus”
Christian Barter, “There Are No Stars Tonight but Those of Memory”

Molly Bashaw, “Josephine”

Bruce Beasley, “Novice”
Bruce Beasley, “Witness”

Ralph Black, "Another January Poem"

Jonathan Blake, "Dusk: Isle Sur La Sorque"

Robert Bly, ”Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter”
Robert Bly, ”Evolution from the Fish”
Robert Bly, ”People Like Us”
Robert Bly, ”Solitude Late at Night in the Woods”
Robert Bly, ”Summer”
Robert Bly, ”Sunset at a Lake”
Robert Bly, ”Three Kinds of Pleasures”
Robert Bly, ”Where We Must Look for Help”

Marianne Boruch, “Hospital”

David Bottoms, "A Chat with My Father" 
David Bottoms, "Little Dream of Spilt Coffee"
David Bottoms, “My Father’s Garbage Can”
David Bottoms, “My Old Man Loves My Truck”

Jericho Brown, "Again"
Jericho Brown, "Crickets"
Jericho Brown, "Detailing the Nape"
Jericho Brown, "Fall"
Jericho Brown, "Track 1: Lush Life"

David Bushelle, "August Twilight"

Denver Butson, “Tuesday 9:00 AM”

Patrick Carrington, "Learning History in Nursery School"

Hayden Carruth, “Endnote”

Anne Carson, “Father’s Old Blue Cardigan”

Raymond Carver, “The Current”

Victoria Chang, "Sparrows"

Lucille Clifton, "at the cemetary, walnut grove plantation, south carolina, 1989"
Lucille Clifton, "homage to my hips"
Lucille Clifton, "shapeshifter poems"
Lucille Clifton, "the lost baby poem"
Lucille Clifton, "wishes for sons"

Nadia Herman Colburn, "Nothing We Say Is Ever the Soul"
Nadia Herman Colburn, "Speaking to a Friend Who Speaks of Suicide"

Henri Cole, "Homosexuality"

Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry"
Billy Collins, “Man in Space”
Billy Collins, “Splitting Wood”
Billy Collins, "The Butterfly Effect" 
Billy Collins, “The Stare”

Temple Cone, "Listening to the Stars before Dawn"

Robert Cording, "The Chair" 
Robert Cording, "White Mountains"

Barbara Crooker, “Autism Poem: The Grid"

Julie Danho, “?”

David Daniel, "Evening Prayer"
David Daniel, "The Gift"

Mahmoud Darwish, “If I were another”

Christina Davis, “The Primer”

Kimberly Davis, "Alchemy"

Ólena Kalytiak Davis, “It Was a Coffin That Sang”

Todd Davis, “Sleep”

William Virgil Davis, "Poem with Ending Words Borrowed from Anne Sexton"

Marco Denevi, “The God of All Flies”

Toi Derricotte, “Not Forgotten”

Danielle Cadena Deulen, "Lemon"
Danielle Cadena Deulen, "Lost Letter I"

Charlie Clark, "Scarred on Sleeve"

Matthew Dickman, "All-American Poem"
Matthew Dickman, "Slow Dance"
Matthew Dickman, "The Mysterious Human Heart"

Stephen Dobyns, “Footstep”
Stephen Dobyns, “Fragments”
Stephen Dobyns, “Like a Revolving Door”

Mark Doty, "Beach Roses"
Mark Doty, “Gardenias”
Mark Doty, "Homo Will Not Inherit"
Mark Doty, “The Pink Palace”

Rebecca Dunham, "Melancholia as Invasive Species"

Stephen Dunn, “A Primer for Swimming at Black Point”
Stephen Dunn, “Before the Sky Darkens”
Stephen Dunn, “Beneath the Sidewalk”
Stephen Dunn, “How to Be Happy: Another Memo to Myself”
Stephen Dunn, “I Come Home Wanting to Touch Everyone”
Stephen Dunn, “John and Mary”
Stephen Dunn, “Letter About Myself to You”
Stephen Dunn, “One Moment and the Next in the Pine Barrens”
Stephen Dunn, “The Arm”
Stephen Dunn, “The Death of God”
Stephen Dunn, “The Hours”
Stephen Dunn, “The Past”
Stephen Dunn, “The Room”
Stephen Dunn, “Turning to the Page”

Cornelius Eady, "Gratitude"

Lynn Emanuel, "The Instruction Manual"

Claudia Emerson, “Aftermath”
Claudia Emerson, “My Grandmother’s Plot in the Family Cemetery”

Martín Espada, "Alabanza" 
Martín Espada, “The Soldiers in the Garden”

Roger Fanning, “Flirt”

Joseph Fasano, "Dirge and Apologia"

Ryan Flaherty, "Loops Leading up to Birth"

Carolyn Forché, "The Colonel" 

Jeff Friedman, “On the Banks of the Mascoma”

Graham Foust, “A Note on Ontology”
Graham Foust, “Barest Gist”

Ross Gay, "Bringing the Shovel Down"
Ross Gay, "How to Fall in Love with Your Father" 
Ross Gay, "It Starts at Birth"
Ross Gay, "Litany"
Ross Gay, "Love, You Got Me Good"
Ross Gay, "Say It"
Ross Gay, “Thank You”
Ross Gay, "Two Bikers Embrace on Broad Street"

Paul Genega, "The Courier"
Paul Genega, "The Crayfish"
Paul Genega, "Unlearning How To Swim"

Christopher Gilbert, "Now"

Jack Gilbert, "Betrothed"
Jack Gilbert, "Finding Eurydice"
Jack Gilbert, "Tear It Down"
Jack Gilbert, "The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart"
Jack Gilbert, "Trying to Have Something Left Over"

Aracelis Girmay, "Conjugation"
Aracelis Girmay, "For Estefani Lora, Third Grade, Who Made Me a Card"
Aracelis Girmay, "Love,"
Aracelis Girmay, "Ode to the Little 'r'"
Aracelis Girmay, "The Piano"

Tony Gloeggler, “1969”

Lousie Glück, “12.6.71”
Lousie Glück, “All Hallows”
Lousie Glück, “Love Poem”
Lousie Glück, “Midnight”
Lousie Glück, "Pomegranate"
Lousie Glück, “The Evening Star”

Paul Goodman, “Birthday Cake”

Jorie Graham, "Orpheus and Eurydice"

Paul Guest, “Airport Letter”

John Haines, “If the Owl Calls Again”
John Haines, “On the Divide”
John Haines, “Snowy Night”
John Haines, “The Long Rain”
John Haines, “The Tree”

Donald Hall, “Barber”
Donald Hall, “Hiding”
Donald Hall, “The Poem”
Donald Hall, “White Apples”

Judith Hall, "Night Heart"

Joy Harjo, "Grace"
Joy Harjo, "Rain of Fury"
Joy Harjo, "Summer Night" 
Joy Harjo, "We Must Call a Meeting"

Robert Hass, “A Story About the Body”
Robert Hass, “Interrupted Meditation”
Robert Hass, “Meditations at Lagunitas”
Robert Hass, “Spring Drawing”

Kaylin Haught, “God Says Yes to Me”

Red Hawk, “The Hallelujah Chorus”

Terrance Hayes, "Lighthead's Guide to the Galaxy"
Terrance Hayes, “The Muppets”
Terrance Hayes, “The Things-No-One-Knows Blues”
Terrance Hayes, "Wind in a Box" [1]
Terrance Hayes, "Wind in a Box" [2]
Terrance Hayes, "Wind in a Box" [3]
Terrance Hayes, "Wind in a Box" [4]
Terrance Hayes, "Wind in a Box" [5]
Terrance Hayes, "Wind in a Box" [6]

Seamus Heaney, "Oysters"
Seamus Heaney, "Song"

William Heyen, “The Spruce in Winter”
William Heyen, "This Blossom"
William Heyen, “This River”

Bob Hicok, "Happy anniversary"

Edward Hirsch, “A Confession”

Jane Hirshfield, “Abundant Heart”
Jane Hirshfield, “Burlap Sack”
Jane Hirshfield, “Salt Heart”
Jane Hirshfield, “Sentence”
Jane Hirshfield, “The Heat of Autumn”
Jane Hirshfield, “The Kingdom”
Jane Hirshfield, “The Weighing”

Tony Hoagland, “Beauty”
Tony Hoagland, “Candlelight”
Tony Hoagland, “Cement Truck”
Tony Hoagland, "Commercial for a Summer Night"
Tony Hoagland, “Hard Rain”
Tony Hoagland, “Hate Hotel”
Tony Hoagland, “I Have News For You”
Tony Hoagland, “Jet”
Tony Hoagland, “Lucky”
Tony Hoagland, “My Country”
Tony Hoagland, “Perpetual Motion”
Tony Hoagland, “Phone Call”
Tony Hoagland, “Romantic Moment”
Tony Hoagland, “Sweet Ruin”
Tony Hoagland, “Travellers”

Marie Howe, "Apology"
Marie Howe, “How Many Times”
Marie Howe, "Keeping Still"
Marie Howe, "Non-violence 2"
Marie Howe, "Part of Eve's Discussion"
Marie Howe, “Prayer”
Marie Howe, "Sorrow"
Marie Howe, "The World"

Christopher Howell, "Letting Things Go"

Christina Hutchins, "What Auburn Is"

Hannah Irvin, “For My Father”

Rodney Jack, “I dream a law”

Roy Jacobstein, “At Her Dull, Repetitive Day Job She Thinks of Wallace Stevens”
Roy Jacobstein, “Mitosis”

Charles H. Johnson, “Home”

Richard Jones, “Infinity and God”
Richard Jones, “The Spoon”

Robert Jones, "Thermal Conversion"

Laura Kasischke, “A Long Commute”

Terry Kennedy, “Suburban Pastoral”

Adele Kenny, “Whatever Might Pass for a Dream”

Galway Kinnell, “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps”
Galway Kinnell, “Another Night in the Ruins”
Galway Kinnell, “Blackberry Eating”
Galway Kinnell, “Daybreak”
Galway Kinnell, “The Apple Tree”
Galway Kinnell, "The Bear"
Galway Kinnell, “The Fly”

Etheridge Knight, "Cop-Out Session"
Etheridge Knight, "For a Brookline Lady I Love"
Etheridge Knight, "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane"
Etheridge Knight, "Rehabilitation & Treatment in the Prisons of America"
Etheridge Knight, "Various Protestations from Various People"

Michael Koch, “after the election”

Ruth Ellen Kocher, "Gustav's Arc"
Ruth Ellen Kocher, "The Escape Artist"
Ruth Ellen Kocher, "When the Moon Knows You're Wandering"

Ron Koertge, “Baby, It’s You”
Ron Koertge, “Flirting with Poetry”
Ron Koertge, “Geography of the Forehead”
Ron Koertge, “I Meet My Father on the Stairs”
Ron Koertge, “I Went to the Movies Just Once Hoping the Monster Got the Girl”
Ron Koertge, “Making Love to Roget’s Wife”
Ron Koertge, “Molly is Asked”
Ron Koertge, “On My Honor”
Ron Koertge, “Q and A”
Ron Koertge, “Signs & Miracles”
Ron Koertge, “The History of Poetry”
Ron Koertge, “The Kids-Only Motel”
Ron Koertge, “Truth & Beauty”
Ron Koertge, “What She Wanted”

Ted Kooser, “A Winter Morning”
Ted Kooser, “After Years”
Ted Kooser, “Highway 30”
Ted Kooser, “Pocket Poem”
Ted Kooser, “Starlight”

Yusef Komunyakaa, "Blue Light Lounge Sutra for the Performance Poets at Harold Park Hotel"
Yusef Komunyakaa, “Facing It”
Yusef Komunyakaa, "Landscape for the Disappeared" 
Yusef Komunyakaa, "The Music That Hurts"
Yusef Komunyakaa, "Toys in a Field"

Gerry Lafemina, "One Bird Feeder Feeds at Least Four Dozen Birds"

Christina LaPrease, “Low Country”

Kurtis Lamkin, "The Kwelia Birds"

Katherine Larson, "Statuary"
Katherine Larson, "Water Clocks"

Dorianne Laux, “Cello”
Dorianne Laux, “Fast Gas”
Dorianne Laux, “Girl in the Doorway”
Dorianne Laux, “Morning Song”
Dorianne Laux, “The Life of Trees”
Dorianne Laux, “The Tooth Fairy”

Li-Young Lee, “Falling: The Code”
Li-Young Lee, “Heir to All”
Li-Young Lee, “Immigrant Blues”
Li-Young Lee, “One Heart”
Li-Young Lee, "Station" 
Li-Young Lee, “The Gift”
Li-Young Lee, “The Moon from Any Window”
Li-Young Lee, “The Sleepless”
Li-Young Lee, “With Ruins”

Teresa Leo, "Lingual"
Teresa Leo, "Naricissists Anonymous"
Teresa Leo, “P.S.”
Teresa Leo, "Saturn"
Teresa Leo, “The Halo Rule”

Philip Levine, "Alone"
Philip Levine, “Animals Are Passing from Our Lives”
Philip Levine, "No One Remembers"
Philip Levine, “Philosophy Lesson”
Philip Levine, “Starlight”

Larry Levis, "The Double"
Larry Levis, "The Widening Spell of Leaves"
Larry Levis, "To a Wall of Flame in a Steel Mill, Syracuse, New York, 1969"
Larry Levis, "To a Woman Glancing Up from the River" 

Betty Lies, “End Notes for a Small History”

Gerald Locklin, “The Freedom Fighters”

Diane Lockward, “Blueberry”
Diane Lockward, “Eve Argues Against Perfection“
Diane Lockward, “Eve’s Confession“
Diane Lockward, “Eve’s Own Garden“
Diane Lockward, “Eve’s Red Dress“
Diane Lockward, “Linguini”
Diane Lockward, “My Father’s Garden“
Diane Lockward, “My Husband Discovers Poetry”

Doc Long , “The Devil is Beating His Wife Again”

Thomas Lux, “A Little Tooth”
Thomas Lux, “Cucumber Fields Crossed by High-Tension Wires”
Thomas Lux, “I Think You’re Wonderful”
Thomas Lux, “Solo Native”
Thomas Lux, “Tarantulas on the Lifebuoy”
Thomas Lux, “Wife Hits Moose”

Anne Marie Macari, "Earth Elegy"

Chris Martin, "American Music"

Adrian Matejka, "Seven Days of Falling"
Adrian Matejka, "'Where O Where is the Blues?' Blues"

William Matthews, "Blues for John Coltrane, Dead at 41"
William Matthews, "Grief"
William Matthews, "Our Song"
William Matthews, "Suddenly"
William Matthews, "The Bear at the Dump" 
William Matthews, "The Summer Night You Can't Forget"
William Matthews, "Why We Are Truly a Nation"

Linda McCarriston, “My Father’s Laughter”
Linda McCarriston, “The Apple Tree”

Jeffrey McDaniel, “Disasterology”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “Grace”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “Heavy Breather Zoo”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “Impersonal Ad #47”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “Matisse/Picasso Painting Exchange, 1907”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “True Story”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “The Offer”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “The Pool”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “The Quiet World”
Jeffrey McDaniel, “The Soul Farmer”

Michael McGriff, "Iron"
Michael McGriff, "Lines Written before the Day Shift"
Michael McGriff, "Seasons between Night and Day"

Laura McKee, "Do Not Confuse Opportunity with Certainty"
Laura McKee, "Ekphrastic Dream 1"
Laura McKee, "Ekphrastic Dream 2"
Laura McKee, "Glacier 1"
Laura McKee, "What a Bad Idea to Come Out This Far"

Claire McQuerry, "Miles Away"

Jane Mead, “Bach, Winter”

W.S. Merwin, ”Anniversary on the Island”
W.S. Merwin, ”Beggars and Kings”
W.S. Merwin, ”Beginning”
W.S. Merwin, ”Cat Ghosts”
W.S. Merwin, “Distant Morning”
W.S. Merwin, ”Dusk in Winter”
W.S. Merwin, ”Exercise”
W.S. Merwin, ”Footprints on the Glacier”
W.S. Merwin, ”For the Anniversary of My Death”
W.S. Merwin, ”Glimpse of the Ice”
W.S. Merwin, ”How We Are Spared”
W.S. Merwin, ”Note”
W.S. Merwin, “Spring”
W.S. Merwin, “Summer Night on the Stone Barrens”
W.S. Merwin, “The Biology of Art”
W.S. Merwin, “The Clear Skies”
W.S. Merwin, “The Current”
W.S. Merwin, "The River of Bees"
W.S. Merwin, "To the Rain"
W.S. Merwin, "To the Spiders of This Room"
W.S. Merwin, ”Utterance”
W.S. Merwin, ”Waking to the Rain”

Michael Meyerhofer, “Against Etymology”
Michael Meyerhofer, “On the Occasion of Two Poets Committing Suicide in the
Same Month”
Michael Meyerhofer, “Samsara”
Michael Meyerhofer, “The Clay-Shaper’s Husband”

Judson Micham, “Etiquette”

Czeslaw Milosz, "Gift" 
Czeslaw Milosz, “Window”

Susan Mitchell, “The Dead”

Fred Moramarco, “Something must”

Valzhyna Mort, "Belarusian I"
Valzhyna Mort, "From Florida Beaches"

Harryette Mullen, "All She Wrote"
Harryette Mullen, "Daisy Pearl"
Harryette Mullen, "Dream Cycle"

Patricia Colleen Murphy, "Good Fences"

Kirk Nesset, "How to Kiss Her"

Sharon Olds, “Bestiary”
Sharon Olds, “Beyond Harm”
Sharon Olds, “I Go Back to May 1937”
Sharon Olds, “I Wanted to Be There When My Father Died”
Sharon Olds, “My Son the Man”
Sharon Olds, “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party”

Mary Oliver, “August”
Mary Oliver, “Entering the Kingdom”
Mary Oliver,  “Percy (Two)”
Mary Oliver, “Sleeping in the Forrest”
Mary Oliver, “Spring”
Mary Oliver, “The Black Snake”
Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”

Jason Olsen, "Museum Field Trip"

Gregory Orr, “Daffodil Poem”
Gregory Orr, “Here”
Gregory Orr, “Indian Summer”
Gregory Orr, "Leaving the Asylum"
Gregory Orr, “Love Poem”
Gregory Orr, “Nantucket Morning/This World”
Gregory Orr, “On the Lawn at Ira’s”
Gregory Orr, “Swamp Songs”
Gregory Orr, “(Trauma) Storm”
Gregory Orr, “Washing My Face”

Priscilla Orr, “Breath”
Priscilla Orr, “Grey Hair”
Priscilla Orr, “Jugglers and Tides”
Priscilla Orr, “Orchids”
Priscilla Orr, "Winter"

Alicia Ostriker, “Everywoman Her Own Theology”
Alicia Ostriker, “Fix”
Alicia Ostriker, “In the Dust”
Alicia Ostriker, “The Fool Stands Up to Teach King Lear Again”

Michael Palmer, “This Time”

Gregory Pardlo, “In Canal Street Station Late”
Gregory Pardlo, “Man Reading in Bed by a Window With Bugs”
Gregory Pardlo, "Vanitas, Baltimore Avenue"

Linda Pastan, “Monet’s Irises”
Linda Pastan, "Orpheus"
Linda Pastan, “To a Daughter Leaving Home"
Linda Pastan, “We Come to Silence”
Linda Pastan, “What We Want”

Octavio Paz, “Here”
Octavio Paz, “Touch”

Allan Peterson, “The Inevitable”

Carl Phillips, "Almost Tenderly"
Carl Phillips, "Conquest"
Carl Phillips, "Porcelain" 
Carl Philips, "Tell Me a Story" 
Carl Philips, "To Break, to Ride"

Mike Puican, "Man Digging Sidewalk"

Susan Rappaport, “Healing”

Adrienne Rich, “Diving into the Wreck”
Adrienne Rich, "Song"

Edwin Romond, “Believing Like a Child”

Edwin Romond, "My Request of Yankee Stadium's Demolition Workers"

Edwin Romond, “Peanut Butter Cookies”
Edwin Romond, "Piano"
Edwin Romond, “To Future English Teachers”

Patrick Rosal, "Delenda Undone"
Patrick Rosal, "Guitar"
Patrick Rosal, "Little Men with Fast Hands"
Patrick Rosal, "Meditations on the Even of My Niece's Birthday"
Patrick Rosal, "Shrike Ode"

Muriel Rukeyeser, "Myth"
Muriel Rukeyeser, "Then"

Ira Sadoff, "August"

Ira Sadoff, "Ode to Experience"

Ira Sadoff, "Summer Solstice in Praise of the Bourgeois"

Ira Sadoff, "The Way of All Flesh"

Steve Scafidi, "Lines for a Doorway"
Steve Scafidi, "The Egg Suckers"

Tim Seibles, "A Jitterbug for Spring"

Glen Shaheen, "Feral Cats"
Glen Shaheen, "Killing Machine"

Reginald Shepherd, "Semantics at Four P.M."

Evie Shockley, "art of dakar"
Evie Shockley, "writer's block"

Charles Simic, “Drawn to Perspective”
Charles Simic, “The Partial Explanation”

Bucky Sinister, “The Day the Angels Died”

Hal Sirowitz, “I Finally Managed to Speak to Her”

Floyd Skloot, "The Lost Language"
Floyd Skloot, “Silent Music”
Floyd Skloot, “Transformations”

W. D. Snodgrass, “Old Apple Trees”
W. D. Snodgrass, “Owls”

Gary Soto, “Oranges”

Jane Springer, "Snow Angel"

A. E. Stallings, “Containment”

Frank Steele, “Parents”

Melissa Stein, "Daily, Weekly, Monthly"

Gerald Stern, "American Heaven"
Gerald Stern, “Cow Worship”
Gerald Stern, "Iris"
Gerald Stern, "The Dancing"

Mark Strand, “My Name”
Mark Strand, “Snowfall”
Mark Strand, “The Coming of Light”
Mark Strand, “The Late Hour”
Mark Strand, “The Night, The Porch”
Mark Strand, “The Room”

Wislawa Szymborska, “A Contribution to Statistics”

Madeline Tiger, “Feeding a Baby”

Brian Turner, “Here, Bullet”

Pauline Uchmanowicz, “Mechanical Drawing”

Jean Valentine, "Orpheus and Eurydice"
Jean Valentine, "September, 1963"

Ellen Bryant Voigt, “Amaryllis”
Ellen Bryant Voigt, “Harvesting the Cows”
Ellen Bryant Voigt, “Tropics”

Judith Vollmer, "After Reading the Verses of a Great American Poet"
Judith Vollmer "Listening to Birds After a Mild Winter"
Judith Vollmer, "Persephone Returning"
Judith Vollmer, "Port of Entry"

Derrek Walcott, “Love After Love”

Joni Wallace, "Purple Plastic Decoder Valentine"

Michael Waters, "Green Ash, Red Maple, Black Gum"

Ellen Doré Watson, "As We Speak"

Charles Harper Webb, “Retreat”

Bhikshuni Weisbrot, “Cardinals in the Snow”
Bhikshuni Weisbrot, “Fall Reverie”
Bhikshuni Weisbrot, “In the UN Garden”
Bhikshuni Weisbrot, “The Coming of Spring”
Bhikshuni Weisbrot, “Crocuses”

Tana Jean Welch, "Aubade"

William Wenthe, "Uhte"

C. K. Williams, "The Doe"

Mary-Sherman Willis, “Reading Lesson”

C. D. Wright, “Tours”

Charles Wright, "Clear Night"
Charles Wright, "Deep Water"
Charles Wright, "Indian Summer"
Charles Wright, "Sentences"
Charles Wright, "Snow"

Franz Wright, “On Earth”

Adam Zagajewski, “Try to Praise the Mutilated World”

Al Zolynas, "The Zen of Housework”