Our Idea of Nothing at All by Alice Duer Miller “I am opposed to woman suffrage, but I am not opposed to woman.”—from an anti- suffrage speech by Mr. Webb of North Carolina O women, have you heard the news Of charity and grace? Look, look, how joy and gratitude Are beaming in my face! For Mr. Webb is not opposed To woman in her place! O Mr. Webb, how kind you are To let us live at all, To let us light the kitchen range And tidy up the hall; To tolerate the female sex I

The Gift by Ed Ochester (from A Geography of Poets , edited by Edward Field, Bantam Poetry, 1979) One day as I was lying on the lawn dreaming of the Beautiful and my wife was justifiably bitching out the window at my shiftlessness and the baby was screaming because I wouldn't let him eat my cigarettes, a tiger cat leaped over the fence, smiled at my wife, let the baby pull his tail, hummed like a furry dynamo as I stroked him. My wife took the car to get him some food, my

Crossroads by Joyce Sutphen (published in her book, Straight Out of View , 1996 by Holy Cow! Press) The second half of my life will be black to the white rind of the old and fading moon. The second half of my life will be water over the cracked floor of these desert years. I will land on my feet this time, knowing at least two languages and who my friends are. I will dress for the occasion, and my hair shall be whatever color I please. Everyone will go on celebrating the o

Diary of a Carpenter Wasp by Gary L. McDowell (from his chapbook, They Speak of Fruit, published in 2009 by Cooper Dillon) I sing the...

The Revenant by Billy Collins (hear the poet read this and another of his dog persona poems here) I am the dog you put to sleep, as you...

Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary by Jane Yolen (from her book, The Faery Flag, 1989) It is winter now, and the roses are blooming...

Learning a Foreign Language by Matt Muth published in RHINO, 2016 I needed to associate like with like, object with suggestion. I needed...

Xarpo: A Sontina by Mary Christine Delea Xarpo was the Greek goddess of autumn and the harvest Just one of the Horai, seasoned like Auxo...

Buddhist Barbie by Denise Duhamel (published in her book, Kinky, Orchises Press, 1997) In the 5th century B.C. an Indian philosopher...