April 12, 2017
Present A poem by Ann Arbor written on June 1, 2016 during 42nd Annual Conference I’m here on the back deck made of rusty nails and weather beaten boards. Here where the chokecherry blossoms hold some small wasps in an opening dance. This is only the beginning of summer. The chestnut’s candelabra points in […]
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March 18, 2017
How I Became a Tedious Eco-Poet A poem by Sam Mansfield Be joyful / though you have considered all the facts. – Wendell Berry It was after I considered all the facts It was because I love inconvenience It was when I read the phrase incompatible with a globally organized community It was after I […]
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January 18, 2017
On the Way Home from the Wildlife Sanctuary A poem by Dale Rosenkrantz You found no arrows in the rainy forest – Elizabeth McKim On the way home from the wildlife sanctuary I found you curled on the bottom of a cloud like hair stuck to […]
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December 14, 2016
And I Let the Fish Go A poem by Abbot Cuttler When certain emotions show up I find it is best to dismiss them as if they are careful vassals entering the court of my body, and I their lord. Of course they are not and, of course, it is I who bow to them, […]
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December 6, 2014
Gabriel: A Poem An excerpt by Edward Hirsch Edward Hirsch reads from “Gabriel: A Poem,” a heart-wrenching elegy for his son, who died in 2011. Mixing sorrow, bewilderment from death, strange hope, and human grief, Hirsch weaves together his own heart in unabashed sequence. Copyright 2014 PBS NewsHour
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December 3, 2013
Inside this Clay Jug A poem by Kabir, Translation by Robert Bly Inside this clay jug there are canyons and pine mountains, and the maker of canyons and pine mountains! All seven oceans are inside, and hundreds of millions of stars. The acid that tests gold is here, and the one who judges jewels. And […]
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December 21, 2012
Requests for Toy Piano A poem by Tony Hogland Play the one about the family of the ducks where the ducks go down to the river and one of them thinks the water will be cold but then they jump in anyway and like it and splash around. No, I must play the one […]
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December 6, 2012
Stealing Sugar from the Castle A poem by Robert Bly We are poor students who stay after school to study joy. We are like those birds in the India mountains. I am a widow whose child is her only joy. The only thing I hold in my ant-like head Is the builder’s plan of the […]
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