poetry pick-me-up: reunited

i have a confession. i spent LITERALLY 3 hours this morning on my computer in an attempt to find a poetry anthology i used in my undergrad poetry workshop class. like the short-sighted child i was back in those days, i sold the book back for like $2.50 at the end of the semester. and i have regretted it ever since. so today, i decided, was the day to right my wrongs and redeem my sins. i’ve really come to love poetry in the intervening years, and i attribute 100% of the credit to my poetry workshop.

so, a maniacal morning passed as i cross-referenced tables of contents, typed in every combination of “american contemporary poetry anthology” into google that i could possibly think of, made lists of the poems that i vaguely remembered from the class, and even called the campus bookstore and english department to see if they could pull up textbooks from past semesters. and i am happy to report that i found it. joyfully presenting the paperback that has haunted my regrets: the vintage book of contemporary american poetry, edited by j. d. mcclatchy.

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and now i will leave you with a poem from this book: “morning song” by sylvia plath. if you focus on her wordsmithing rather than her grisly end, it’s so easy to fall in love.

poetry pick-me-up: louise gluck

my favorite poem, by far, in all the world, is “palais des artes” by louise gluck. i hope it speaks to you, too.

(image via wikipedia)