All Poems

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sown by tearing winds on the cordage of disabled ships: your
raised hand
an ambiguous signature: your cheeks, those rosettes
of blood on the stone floors of French châteaux,
with regard to which the guides are so affirmative—
your other hand

Father, Child, Water by Gary Dop: American Life in Poetry #178 Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2

© Ted Kooser

We mammals are ferociously protective of our young, and we all know not to wander in between a sow bear and her cubs. Here Minnesota poet Gary Dop, without a moment's hesitation, throws himself into the water to save a frightened child.

Father, Child, Water

Gone, Gone Again

© Edward Thomas

Gone, gone again,
May, June, July,
And August gone,
Again gone by,

Preparatory Meditations - First Series: 6.

© Edward Taylor

Am I Thy gold? Or purse, Lord, for Thy wealth;
Whether in mine or mint refined for Thee?
I'm counted so, but count me o'er Thyself,
Lest gold-washed face, and brass in heart I be.
I fear my touchstone touches when I try
Me, and my counted gold too overly.

To a Little Invisible Being Who is Expected Soon to Become Visible

© Bliss William Carman

Germ of new life, whose powers expanding slow
For many a moon their full perfection wait,—
Haste, precious pledge of happy love, to go
Auspicious borne through life's mysterious gate.

Wonder

© Thomas Traherne

How like an angel came I down!

How bright are all things here!

from On the Pulse of Morning

© Jon Anderson

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow,
I will give you no hiding place down here.

The Harlot's House

© Oscar Wilde

We caught the tread of dancing feet,
We loitered down the moonlit street,
And stopped beneath the harlot's house.

The Distant Road

© Henry Van Dyke

I knew not the sweetness of the fountain till I found it flowing in the
desert,
Nor the value of a friend till we met in a land that was crowded and
lonely.

The Animals

© William Stanley Merwin

All these years behind windows

With blind crosses sweeping the tables

(Over the green and yellow...)

© Anselm Hollo

I

Over the green and yellow rice fields sweep the shadows of the autumn clouds, followed by the swift-chasing sun.
The bees forget to sip their honey; drunken with the light they foolishly hum and hover; and the ducks in the sandy riverbank clamour in joy for mere nothing.

If I Should Die Tonight

© Arabella Eugenia Smith

If I should die to-night,

My friends would look upon my quiet face

Ode, Inscribed to William H. Channing

© Ralph Waldo Emerson

Though loath to grieve
The evil time's sole patriot,
I cannot leave
My honied thought
For the priest's cant,
Or statesman's rant.

The Eye Of Love

© George Moses Horton

I know her story-telling eye
Has more expression than her tongue;
And from that heart-extorted sigh,
At once the peal of love is rung.

Airs and Angels: This Night Only

[Erik Satie: "Gymnopédie #1"]

Moonlight now on Malibu

Speeding

Requiescat is not my bidding,
That is the weary man's right speeding;
You, O Child, full of life and laughter,
Joy to you now and long days hereafter!

Little Ache

© Li-Young Lee

That sparrow on the iron railing,
not worth a farthing, purchases a realm
its shrill cries measure, trading
dying for being.

The Sun Rises Bright In France

The sun rises bright in France,
And fair sets he;
But he has tint the blythe blink he had
In my ain countree.

The Candle Of The Lord

Our spirit-ay, our own!-the tree whose fruits
Have never fail'd-the sign upon the door
'Twixt us and God's intelligent dumb brutes,
That parts us evermore!

Only a Dad

Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come, and to hear his voice.