WURD IZ: Poetry

Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts

Monday

National Poetry Month

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.

Sunday

If We Must Die- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More

English: Photo of the poet, novelist and short story writer Claude McKay (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If We Must Die- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More: "
If We Must Die

by Claude McKay

If we must die—let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die—oh, let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!"

Tuesday

It's Our Sweet 16!- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More

Billy's Cubicle (Photo credit: molossoidea)

It's Our Sweet 16!- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More: Poets.org has been online since April 1996, the same month the Academy of American Poets initiated National Poetry Month.

That makes April 2012 our Sweet 16!
To celebrate, we're looking back at how the site has transformed over the years, and looking forward to exciting changes ahead. Celebrate with us by exploring the site's history. If you're a regular visitor of Poets.org, please consider making a gift today. Your support ensures that readers like yourself can celebrate for years to come.

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The Other Side of the River
by Xi Chuan
translated by Lucas Klein

On the other side of the river
there is a flame
a flame
burning May

burning August

when the pagoda tree blooms, the professor with lentigo bows to her
when orange blossoms fall, an heir of graceful demeanor waves to her
and smiles

yet on the other side of the river she remains, still burning
like the underwater glistening of red coral
like a red straw hat blown away in the breeze

when I saw her yesterday she was totally still, looking to the sky
and today she lowers her head to watch the river
if it were overcast and raining, what would she do there on that side
of the river?
—her flame would not go out

a poet looks to her
a farmer looks to her
a Dialectical Materialist looks to her
she is on the other side of the river, burning
burning May
burning August

..
.ero
.