We Wear the Mask~ by Paul Lawrence Dunbar We wear the mask that grins and lies,It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—This debt we pay to human guile;With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise,In counting all our tears and sighs?Nay, let them only see …Read More
Category: Poem
By the road to the contagious hospital ~ William Carlos Williams
Spring and All [By the road to the contagious hospital] by William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963) I By the road to the contagious hospital under the surge of the blue mottled clouds driven from the northeast-a cold wind. Beyond, the waste of broad, muddy fields brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen patches of …Read More
For a New Beginning ~ John O’Donohue
“I want to be able to do that” I still remember the moment that I first heard someone perform a story. I was expecting an ordinary speech where I could learn something about public speaking. Instead, I was immediately captivated, pulled into the vivid images that story created in my mind. The storyteller transformed herself …Read More
A Blessing ~ James Right
Suddenly I realizeThat if I stepped out of my body I would breakInto blossom. ~ James Wright, “A Blessing” from Above the River: The Complete Poems and Selected Prose. A Blessing ~ by James Wright Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota, Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass. And the eyes of those two Indian …Read More
One Today ~ Richard Blanco
One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,peeking over the Smokies, greeting the facesof the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truthacross the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a storytold by our silent gestures moving behind windows. ~ first stanza from One Today by Richard …Read More
Poem: Lost in Summer ~ Joel Ying
Lost in Summer ~ by Dr. Joel Ying, MD Atlantic waves crashing on the white sand Mid-morning sun already heavy in the sky Fractured shards of light glimmer atop the waves Sea foam like lace hems the shoreline. My nine year old self running into the water Trampling over the delicate froth Leaving the already …Read More
Immigrant Picnic ~ Gregory Djanikian
Immigrant Picnic ~ By Gregory Djanikian It’s the Fourth of July, the flags are painting the town, the plastic forks and knives are laid out like a parade. And I’m grilling, I’ve got my apron, I’ve got potato salad, macaroni, relish, I’ve got a hat shaped like the state of Pennsylvania. I ask my father …Read More
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
The Night Has A Thousand Eyes ~ by Francis William Bourdillon The night has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun. The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one: Yet the light of a whole life dies When love …Read More
After the Fire ~ Ada Limón
Ada Limón is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. In her recent interview “To Be Made Whole” with On Being by Krista Tippett, Ada Limón creates laughter in the very same moment that she launches us into serious contemplation. As she reads her poetry, she is at once genuine and humorous, holy and …Read More
How Do I Love Thee?
How Do I Love Thee? ~ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861) How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the …Read More