This is the second poem for my second pocket, Rilke’s first Duino Elegy as translated by Stephen Mitchell, an exceptional wordsmith in his own right. The YouTube video is from PoeticTouch2012 who maintains a superb collection of poetry recitals:…

Today could very well be called Poems Everywhere Day since poems are popping up on lunch bags, billboards, in emails, slipped into purses, and yes, tucked into pockets. Carrying only one seemed  insufficient to me so I chose two favorites. This is the first one:…

(Image of Qatari poet Ibn al Dheeb provided by RT Online)

Have you ever considered the potential danger of expressing passionate creativity within an environment where an inspired impulse could lead to a sentence of life in prison? It is…

If in the midst of mannequin bombs



disemboweling pregnant insanity,

a poem of love should seduce your lips,…

                                        (Dag Hammarsksjold on June27, 1955, cover of Time Magazine)

If you are unfamiliar with him, Dag Hammarskjöld was the…

This is the title page from the first known folio of works by William Shakespeare published in 1623.

Call William Shakespeare the ultimate literary enigma and you just might be right. On top of the controversial debates over whether it was he or…

Nelson Mandela reciting poet Ingrid Yonker's The Child is Not Dead. (Originally uploaded by ajdgroot on Feb 6, 2011 Audio © IDTV Film.)

It has become commonplace to describe the South African poet Ingrid Yonker (Sept 19, 1933 – July 19, 1965) as her…

1986 Associated Press photo of Adrienne Rich in Chicago holding award certificate for the Ruth Lily Poetry Prize.

It is a very rare thing for a poet to embody simultaneously the classical and modern…

Scholars, lovers, and the lonely-hearted all know poetry in their own way and all have their own very lovely relationships with it. But who have a more passionate relationship with poetry than poets themselves? These quotes are presented in honor of their voices and their inspiring dedication to "the flower of language."

“If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day.  For there would be…

Korean poet Kim Chi-Ha.

Kim Chi-Ha is a Korean poet who was born in 1941 and whose dedication to the expressions of truth and courage in his work has cost him his freedom for most of his adult life. Thanks to modern translations of his poetry and some prose by dedicated…

Photo of former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins by Marcelo Noah.

Of all the questions you might want…

Although it is a cold evening, 

down by one of the fishhouses 

an old man sits netting, 

his net, in the gloaming almost…

(YouTube video courtesy of GottfriedGeist)







S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse

A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,

Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.

Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo

Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,

Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.





LET us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherised upon a table;

Let us go,…

Inauguration Day 2009 Poet Elizabeth Alexander recites Praise Song for the Day. Scholars, poets, and poetry lovers are still making up their minds concerning how they feel about the poem but most seem to think it was appropriate for the occasion. Alexander’s publisher, Grey Wolf Press, is showing its approval and pride by publishing a commemorative chap book of the poem, similar to what Maya Angelou’s publisher did with her inaugural poem, On…

(AP photo of Elizabeth Alexander by Michael Marsland)









Born in Harlem in 1962, Elizabeth Alexander was selected by President-Elect Barack Obama to serve as his inaugural poet January 20, 2009. This choice made Alexander the newest member of what may be the most exclusive literary club in history, which is the club of four inaugural poets that include Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, and Miller Williams.



In the…

(The Mahabodhi Temple Gardens courtesy of www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/)











Your heart is a beautiful garden

and my friendship is a small rose in your garden…..

Please do not pluck that rose

for any reason or condition.



Your heart is a large ocean

and my friendship is a golden fish in your ocean…..

Please do not drive that…