Janet Kuypers shares her poetry video "Everything Was Alive and Dying."

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Janet Kuypers shares her poetry video "Everything Was Alive and Dying."
August 14, 2008

Hello Poets and Poetry Lovers

Now that summer is almost over and we're ready to head back to school, I think it's time to say a big thank you to those subscribers who are school teachers. What a wonderful service you provide when you introduce your students to good poetry.

I'm going to make an effort this next year to provide helpful resources to teachers who are poets or who teach poetry. I'd be interested in knowing what kind of resources you'd find helpful. You can send me your suggestions by clicking here and filling out my contact form. In the comments section be sure to state that you are a teacher and would like the following resources available on the site (don't forget to follow that statement with some actual suggestions!).

In this week's issue of Hyperbole I've got some new updates as I continue to upgrade the WCP website. I hope you like the new look. Once it is rolled out across the entire website I'll be able to offer more resources in the sidebars of every page. I'm really looking forward to developing those resources. Meanwhile, enjoy this issue of Hyperbole and please send me your suggestions for improvements using the WCP contact form.

Poetry Video Of The Week - Janet Kuypers, "Everything Was Alive and Dying"
Updated World Class Poetry Pages
American Life in Poetry by Ted Kooser
New World Class Poetry Blog Posts
Poetry Book Of The Week
Duotrope's Daily Market
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World Class Poetry Networking

Poetry Video Of The Week -
Janet Kuypers, "Everything Was Alive and Dying"

This video is a good 8 minutes and some seconds long, but Janet Kuypers is very expressive. If you can't watch the video in its current format then click here to watch.

Do you make poetry videos? Connect with me on YouTube. My user name is poetwarrior2003.

Updated World Class Poetry Pages

I've updated more pages this week than I have in awhile. In fact, I managed to make the transition for an entire section of the website to the new design. Seven whole pages - but more to come!

This week's updated pages include:

American Life in Poetry: Column 176

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

Hearts and flowers, that's how some people dismiss poetry, suggesting that's all there is to it, just a bunch of sappy poets weeping over love and beauty. Well, poetry is lots more than that. At times it's a means of honoring the simple things about us. To illustrate the care with which one poet observes a flower, here's Frank Steele, of Kentucky, paying such close attention to a sunflower that he almost gets inside it.

Sunflower

You're expected to see
only the top, where sky
scrambles bloom, and not
the spindly leg, hairy, fending off
tall, green darkness beneath.
Like every flower, she has a little
theory, and what she thinks
is up. I imagine the long
climb out of the dark
beyond morning glories, day lilies, four o'clocks
up there to the dream she keeps
lifting, where it's noon all day.

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) 2001 by Frank Steele. Reprinted from "Singing into That Fresh Light," co-authored with Peggy Steele, ed., Robert Bly, Blue Sofa Press, 2001, by permission of Frank Steele. 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.

New World Class Poetry Blog Posts

Poetry Book Of The Week

Meet this week's poetry book of the week:

Lassoed With A Decorative Tongue is an interesting excursion into the absurd with Bradley Lastname. Bradley Lastname plays with words in ways that no other poet can. Be sure to read Lassoed With A Decorative Tongue.