Category Archives: quotations

A Lonely Sort of Poem

Posted on April 22, 2012 by

“The Best Moment of the Night” by Tony Hoagland (originally published in The Sun Magazine, April 2012) You had a moment with the dog, down near the base of the butcher-block table just as the party was getting started. Just as … Continue reading →

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“For Allen Ginsberg” by Dorothea Grossman

Posted on March 18, 2012 by

Among other things thanks for explaining how the generous death of old trees forms the red powdered floor of the forest.

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“Although the Wind” by Izumi Shikibu

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

Although the wind blows terribly here, the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house.

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Garrison Keillor on Winter in Minnesota

Posted on February 22, 2012 by

Growing up in a place that has winter, you learn to avoid self-pity. Winter is not a personal experience, everybody else is as cold as you, so you shouldn’t complain about it too much. You learn this as a kid, … Continue reading →

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A Poem for Whitney Houston

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

“Her Kind” by Anne Sexton  (1960) I have gone out, a possessed witch, haunting the black air, braver at night; dreaming evil, I have done my hitch over the plain houses, light by light: lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind. … Continue reading →

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Today, Langston Hughes

Posted on February 4, 2012 by

“Motto” (1951) I play it cool And dig all jive That’s the reason I stay alive. My motto, As I live and learn,        is: Dig And Be Dug In Return.

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“To Poems” by Arseny Tarkovsky

Posted on January 22, 2012 by

translated from the Russian by Philip Metres & Dimitri Psurtsev My poems:  fledglings, heirs, Plaintiffs and executors, The silent ones, the loud, The humble and the proud. As soon as the shovel of time Threw me onto the potter’s wheel— … Continue reading →

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A Summery Poem for a Cold Day

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

It’s January in Minnesota, and there’s no snow, but it got cold and windy today. Seems like a nice chilly night for a summery poem by Mark Twain. Well, it’s not really about summer, but that’s perfectly fine. Even better, … Continue reading →

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How to Write the Opening Line of a Novel

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

This morning I finally got to sit down the Henry James’ The Aspern Papers, after letting it languish in a stack of junk for the last week. Writers, take note:  this is how to start a novel: I had taken … Continue reading →

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Poem for the Weekend

Posted on October 9, 2011 by

A Broken Vase by Peggy Hemans I broke a vase on Christmas Day sitting on a floor cushion pulling at flowers bound up with string nobody told me off because of my stupidity – this family who have learned the … Continue reading →

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