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The 1960s weren’t exactly right

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The 1960s weren’t exactly right For stars who touched each other in the way That audiences hated.  Lovers might Endeavor to keep journalists at bay, But Robert Benevides...

Barbaric Yawp

                  Barbaric Yawp His “poetry” is not so much a thing Of barbarism as it is bad Greek Or Roman oratory.  In its ring It has the sound of bombast.  No, not sleek, But more like overstated prose tricked out As verse on pages.  Rhetoric high-flown Quite...

Japanese and Chinese Poets Imagined Frogs Performing Poems

Japanese and Chinese Poets Imagined Frogs Performing Poems Te wo tsuite  uta mōshiaguru  kawazu hana   Placing his hands on Mud, the frog respectfully Recites his poem. ~ Sōkan Those poets speak of frogs producing lines Of poetry.  Such poets of the pond Gulp forth...

The Range of American Letters Including e e cummings

The Range of American Letters Including e e cummings The English language in the farther west Can be as harsh as sneering Ambrose Bierce Or roaring Robinson Jeffers.  The zest Appears in Marquis’s tomcat Bill, fierce Beside Mehitabel and Archie.  Calm Was English in...

Invisible Music Made Opaque

          Invisible Music Made Opaque The rain falls down as if in chords, as if A symphony in quietness, playing on The quietest of instruments as stiff As thin percussion ones with brushes drawn Across them, metal brushes on a drum. The only notes we hear as notes...