Written in the morning of the day he died, William Stafford's last poem rattles with augury gilded by a sense of acceptance.
Tag: Poetry
Surviving Intact – Norman Fischer on Zen, Language and Growing Old
Zen teacher and poet Norman Fischer on where and how poetry and Zen practice meet and interact.
The Poem Is a Place in Which to Feel: Mary Oliver’s Tribute to Walt Whitman
In this stirring tribute to her shadow-companion and first poetic love Walt Whitman, poet Mary Oliver describes the experience of awakening to poetry as a door to the temple, a place 'in which to feel'.
I Had a Brother Once: A Poetic Ritual for a Sibling’s Grief
I Had a Brother Once is an elegiac and honest account of the devastation of suicide, the senselessness of grief, and the imperatives and difficulties of narrative when a loved one's life is on the page.
‘Telling Stories is the Single Thing That Makes Us Human’ – A Conversation with Adam Mansbach
A conversation with Adam Mansbach about loss, grief, and the process of writing his new book, I Had a Brother Once, in the form of an epic poem.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Mother and Poet
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 'Mother and Poet' is a lamentation of a mother's grief over losing her only two sons in battle.
Sleep Faster, We Need the Pillows: Suzanne Buffam’s ‘A Pillow Book’
It's hard to define a writer like Suzanne Buffam who so easily jumps between different poetic forms, from lists to snippets and musings in prose.
Han Shan – A Bug Crawling in a Bowl
Han Shan's poems are rooted in the quiet nature of the Cold Mountain and the poet's effusive humor that reminds us of the worthlessness of worldly pursuits.
Peter Spaulding – Déjà Vu, According to The Matrix
Peter Spaulding's Déjà Vu, According to the Matrix starts with the Smiths and a scene from The Matrix, and builds up in layers of playful, random meaning and free-associative lines that run through the poem.
Janette Schafer – Passagio
Janette Schafer describes her short poem, Passagio, as 'a haiku of hope.'