Here's an enjoyable challenge for every poet and poetry lover: Every week this month - and beyond, because this easily becomes a pleasure-, dedicate yourself to reading at least 1 collection of poems by a poet with whom you are not yet familiar or a new collection of poems by a favorite poet.
As a single mom who works full time, I still make time to read poetry every day. Why? Because reading poetry forces me to slow down to reflect, even if I only had time for one poem. Instead of agonizing about how to fit time in to read, I always have handy in my cavernous purse a volume of poems and take advantage of that extra half hour in the morning when my son is asleep, at lunchtime, right after work or school with a cup of tea before I start dinner, or at bedtime to read.
Whose collections am I reading right now? During my latest visit to the Central Library in Springfield, MA< these are some of the collections of poems I borrowed to read:
What is this thing called love? by Kim Addonizio (WW Norton: 2004)
Old Shirts & New Skins by Sherman Alexie (The Regents of the University of California: 19933)
Cimarron by Ricardo Alonso (Wesleyan University Press: 1979)
This Woman I Kept to Myself by Julia Alvarez (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: 2004)
Loving a Woman in Two Worlds by Robert Bly (The Dial Press: 1985)
Yes, one way that I am discovering collections of poems new to me is by browsing the shelves alphabetically.
And last Sunday, I spent an awesome day with a poet-girlfriend in Northampton browsing through bookstores and bought these used collections of poems:
Martin and Meditations on the South Valley by Jimmy Santiago Baca (A New Directions Book: 1986)
Blue Mountain by John Balaban (Unicorn Press: 1974, 1976, 1980, 1982)
Life is a Fatal Disease (Collected Poems 1962-1995) by Paula Gunn Allen (West End Press: 1997)
The Concrete River by Luis J. Rodriguez (Curbstone Press: 1991)
The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer. Edited by Robert B. Jones and Margery Toomer Latimer (The University of North Carolina: 1988)
As we read poems this month, I invite you to share your thoughts about a poem or a collection of poem
As a single mom who works full time, I still make time to read poetry every day. Why? Because reading poetry forces me to slow down to reflect, even if I only had time for one poem. Instead of agonizing about how to fit time in to read, I always have handy in my cavernous purse a volume of poems and take advantage of that extra half hour in the morning when my son is asleep, at lunchtime, right after work or school with a cup of tea before I start dinner, or at bedtime to read.
Whose collections am I reading right now? During my latest visit to the Central Library in Springfield, MA< these are some of the collections of poems I borrowed to read:
What is this thing called love? by Kim Addonizio (WW Norton: 2004)
Old Shirts & New Skins by Sherman Alexie (The Regents of the University of California: 19933)
Cimarron by Ricardo Alonso (Wesleyan University Press: 1979)
This Woman I Kept to Myself by Julia Alvarez (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: 2004)
Loving a Woman in Two Worlds by Robert Bly (The Dial Press: 1985)
Yes, one way that I am discovering collections of poems new to me is by browsing the shelves alphabetically.
And last Sunday, I spent an awesome day with a poet-girlfriend in Northampton browsing through bookstores and bought these used collections of poems:
Martin and Meditations on the South Valley by Jimmy Santiago Baca (A New Directions Book: 1986)
Blue Mountain by John Balaban (Unicorn Press: 1974, 1976, 1980, 1982)
Life is a Fatal Disease (Collected Poems 1962-1995) by Paula Gunn Allen (West End Press: 1997)
The Concrete River by Luis J. Rodriguez (Curbstone Press: 1991)
The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer. Edited by Robert B. Jones and Margery Toomer Latimer (The University of North Carolina: 1988)
As we read poems this month, I invite you to share your thoughts about a poem or a collection of poem