February 21, 2008
This week we have a new page and a couple of great updates. No AdSense updates, I promise. These are bona fide updates of real pages and I think you'll like the improvements. Plus, I've got a great blog critique that you'll love to read.
I'm disappointed that no one has taken me up on my ekphrastic poem contest. I was hoping to get at least a couple of takers. But you're going to love the American Life in Poetry column by former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser in this week's issue of Hyperbole.
Table of Contents
- Poetry Book Review: Between the Space of Grace and Gray
- American Life in Poetry
- World Class Poetry Updates
- New World Class Poetry Pages
- New World Class Poetry Blog Posts
- World Class Poetry Networking
- Call For Submissions!
Poetry Book Review: Between the Space of Grace and Gray
Between the Space of Grace and Gray is the first book of poetry by Dana Larkin Sauers, former poet laureate of Hanover, Pa. Sauers steps in from a world inhabited by beings that most of us never encounter, but only dream about. She is not an angel, but one could easily mistake her for one. Her irresistible charm comes across on the page as it does in person and it is a privilege to be able to read her verses or hear them being read.
Read the rest of this review here
American Life in Poetry: Column 151
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Thirty, forty years ago, there were lots of hitchhikers, college students, bent old men and old women, and none of them seemed fearful of being out there on the highways at the mercy of strangers. All that's changed, and nobody wants to get in a car with a stranger. Here Steven Huff of New York tells us about a memorable ride.
Safe
You used to be able to flag a ride in this country.
Impossible now--everyone is afraid
of strangers. Well, there was fear then too,
and it was mutual: drivers versus hitchhikers.
And we rode without seat belts,
insurance or beliefs. People
would see me far ahead on a hill like a seedling,
watch me grow in the windshield
and not know they were going to stop until
they got right up to me. Maybe they wanted
company or thought I'd give them
some excitement. It was the age
of impulse, of lonesome knee jerks. An old woman
stopped, blew smoke in my face
and after I was already in her car she asked me
if I wanted a ride. I'm telling you.
Late one night a construction boss pulled over.
One of his crew had been hit
by the mob, he said as he drove, distraught
and needing to talk to someone.
We rode around for a long time.
He said, I never wore a gun to a funeral before,
but they've gotta be after me too.
Then he looked at me and patted the bulge
in his coat. Don't worry, he said, you're safe.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c) 2007 by Steven Huff, whose latest book of poetry is "More Daring Escapes," Red Hen Press, 2007. Reprinted from the "Chatauqua Literary Journal," Issue 4, 2007, by permission of the author. Introduction copyright (c) 2008 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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World Class Poetry Updates
This week's page updates include:
Be sure to check out Three Leg Dog Journal
New World Class Poetry Pages
Only one new page this week, but you're going to love it:
Be on the lookout for these future pages:
- Robert Frost
- Robert Browning
- Sir Thomas Wyatt
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New World Class Poetry Blog Posts
Be sure to take a look at these new blog posts at World Class Poetry Blog
- Poetry Blog Critique: Meander With Me
- Critique Group: A Poem In The Process Of Being Made
- Are You A Poet Or - Shriek! - A "Hobbyist"?
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World Class Poetry Networking
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Call For Submissions!
Send me your original poetry. If it meets my strict standards then I'll publish it in Hyperbole and on the World Class Poetry Blog. Previously published poems are OK as long as you own the copyright. Use the WCP contact form.
Submit your criticism and reviews to Hyperbole. Interviews of published poets welcome. Prose about poetry - send it. Our only bias: High quality.
And when all else fails, write a poem.
Toodles
Allen Taylor
the poet
