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...

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...

Today's posted poem is "Diary of a Carpenter Wasp" by Gary L. McDowell. His chapbook also includes poems about mosquitos and birds, and...

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...

Yes, it has been done before, and not only by Jane Yolen! Lots of writers and visual artists have depicted what really happens after...

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...

Yes, a sontina. It is a form of poetry that I invented. As far as I know, the poem I posted on my blog today, Xarpo, is the only sontina...

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...

This week's prompt gives you a few choices, so it can be done by poets, prose writers, and visual artists of any kind! You can write a...

Villanelle for a Lesbian Mom by Robin Becker published in Harvard Magazine by Harvard Press https://harvardmagazine.com/sites/default/fil...

Mad Girl’s Love Song by Sylvia Plath I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my lids and all is born again. (I think I made...

Taking a little break from the villanelle form in my blog this week, to bring you a short poem by Linda Pastan, and from which we will...

A New Poet by Linda Pastan (published in Poetry 180, edited by Billy Collins, and here) Finding a new poet is like finding a new...

For Her Villain by Grace Bauer (published in the anthology, Villanelles, edited by Annie Finch and Marie-Elizabeth Mali, 2012) The time...

On July 9, I posted a prompt that used sentences in languages other than English as a way to do Sound Translations to start a draft. I...

Have you read today's poem that I posted on this very blog? If not, get thee to it--Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night"...

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of...