Poetry Corner

The Poetry Foundation has been doing something very cool all this year with the fancy Web site they?ve made using Ruth Lilly?s bequest: In the Journals section, they?ve made some…

Read full article at Patricia Smith on Ghazals

Like most women of my age who grew up aspiring to be writers, I felt the shadow of Sylvia Plath over me when I was young. When I?m struggling to…

Read full article at Thinking about Sylvia Plath as the winter darkness comes on

We began with a choice few old classics on winter themes. Now we?ve posted the best of the new poems of the season sent to us by contemporary poets across…

Read full article at Winter Poems, a new About Poetry anthology

…with a few beloved classics:William Shakespeare,?Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind? from As You Like It (1600)Thomas Campion,?Now Winter Nights Enlarge? (1617)Emily Dickinson,?There?s a Certain Slant of Light? (#82)Robert Frost,?Dust of…

Read full article at We begin our Winter Poems anthology…

Sal Salasin, nasty loner, tasty poet, angry muffo, and now under the volcano with a Spanish vocabulary list and Mexico as lover: I love the Blogosphere when he?s in it….

Read full article at Congito & Canaricita, Two Letters from Mexico by Sal Salasin

Chautauqua Literary Journal Annual Poetry Contest (postmark deadline September 30)Kinereth Gensler Award for poets living in New England, New York or New Jersey from Alice James Books (postmark deadline October…

Read full article at More competition deadlines just added to our list

Since Ruth Lilly?s $100 million gift to Poetry (magazine, that is), poets, publishers & readers have been wondering what they will do for Poetry with all that money. The Poetry…

Read full article at New title from the Poetry Foundation: Children?s Poet Laureate

If you?ve spent the summer polishing a poem or a chapbook manuscript or even a full-length collection, now?s the time to pack it up & send it off to one…

Read full article at Lots of fall & winter poetry contest deadlines

We lie spent for long minutes together,

your head pillowed by my stomach,

and for just a moment I consider covering myself,

until I realize that your fingers are gently kneading my flesh,

needing to feel me,

wanting me to stay just like this,

defenseless,

and I begin to weep,

unable to reconcile your love and my shame.

Wandering resolute
in solitude, I sought
serenity, an elusive,
almost palpable shadow
fluttering just out of reach.
Close enough
to gently dampen
thirsty lips, a sponge
soaked in vinegar.

So damn me for hunger.
So damn me for hoping for more.

Perpetual mourning dove
never widowed, swallowing
all I wanted,
all that could have been.
Choked by denial,
arms akimbo, daring
to still move forward.
No safety net needed
if only I could take
just one step.

So damn my selfishness.
So damn me for wanting to believe.

Horizon firmly burned
into my retina,
once internal whispers of ‘jump’
turn to angry shouts.
Feeling a fool for believing
but believing still,
I step forward
onto thin air.