Robert Cording: Manatees
Tranquil, patient,
they brushed against each other
until, soon enough, they ambled
with their mermaid tails toward the dock
Rosaly DeMaios Roffman: How My Father Does It
Tomorrow, I fly home to teach Prometheus—
that story of saving the universe with fire
and then enduring the eagle punishment
but my raised voice will be for my father
Byron Hoot: Dance Instructor & There Are Reasons
“Now you. Just remember
when you were a bear.”
Diane di Prima: Buddhist New Year Song
it is truth, that we came here, I told you,
from other planets
where we were lords, we were sent here,
for some purpose
Ellen McGrath Smith: Dream, 2025
brown faces falling toward us, arms
and legs dislocated by updraft, indigenous faces we knew from our daily rounds to buy groceries and tacos
Stuart Kestenbaum: Prayer for Joy
Every butterfly knows that the end
is different from the beginning
and that it is always a part
of a longer story
Naomi Shihab Nye: Generations
At the end of an unseasonably warm day
New Year’s Eve 2017
I stood in my kitchen holding
one wooden spoon.
Chard deNiord: Erebus
This is the river’s music that still plays
like the wind in its accompaniment
to the only song I know how to sing
Barbara Crooker: When I Gave Away My Tent
…some protection from sun, snow, rain in this, the very imperfect
twenty-first century where working two jobs isn’t enough to get
an apartment in a country where too much is not enough.
Luray Gross: The Boy and the Mockingbird
Once in a time not so
long ago, there was a boy
generous enough to share
his name
with a mockingbird
Michael T. Young: How to Read a Poem
The experience of reading a poem should not start in the meaning first, but in the feelings it evokes just hearing those words, in the images, and rhythms carrying you along, much like a good song.
David Kirby: The Way I See It
I wonder if our bosses have any idea how much time we spend
thinking about them. My friend Silvia can’t sleep because
she can’t remember the name of her boss from twenty years ago.
Judith Sanders: Bubbe and Zayde Take Me to the Ice Capades
I danced past the hospital playroom
where bald children rode tricycles,
because you, my son, would get well.
