Belly Song
By Kathleen HellenI sit in the front row of
bleachers -- cheap seats for greater grief.
My son
Calling poets to a greater role in public life and fostering a national network of socially engaged poets.
By Kathleen HellenI sit in the front row of
bleachers -- cheap seats for greater grief.
My son
By Kathleen O'TooleHe arrived first as a student of geology
in the bicentennial year.
He witnessed
By Melanie GrahamShe appears again, 2-year-old riding her hip,
grief so great he can see through her birkha, past Qualaday,
into the kitchen, his mother nurturing chicken
in popping grease.
By Kim JensenYou know the economy's bad
when people are lined up around the block
to apply for the job
of the wicked witch.
By Kim RobertsWheels, whisks, wishbones,
silhouette of a tiny pine.
Birds in flight and fiddlehead ferns.
By Jose PaduaI give to you a portrait of America in trash.
I give it to you with love and respect, America:
mountains of beer cans crumpled, plastic figures
By Naomi AyalaAnd now, where the moon
rose behind here,
three stories loom—
By Heather DavisThe lights in your home channel 29 men, their
soot stained clothes, last breaths, crystalline sweat
let loose on black rock