Ginny's Poetry Group

We meet somewhat semi-monthly to read poetry and talk. This is a history of our readings.

Marilyn reminds us that poetry is a conversation between a poet or poem and a reader. The reader has a legitimate voice.

Resources

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Academy of American Poets https://poets.org/

Poetry blog of Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer https://ahundredfallingveils.com

Archive of daily mindfulness poetry http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/

The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation https://www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/

Poetry database https://www.poemhunter.com/

January 2025

Marilyn brought two of her works, Home, and an untitled piece we will remember as Consider the lilies of the field, consider the buzzard...

Jane read The Winter Woods by Parker J. Palmer along with his introduction to the poem from his Facebook page, which talked about the funeral of Jimmy Carter and two ways of seeing. She also read My Courageous Life by David Whyte. This is said to be a new version of his Second Life (from his collection Pilgrim) which Jessie found and read a snippet from, which might also be titled My Uncourageous Life.

Julia read the funny and nostalgic These Wonderful Confessions by Monica Patrick, remarking that she had found nothing else by or about the poet. That link is what I found, on a page full of funny valentine poems. Julia also read i am running into a new year" by Lucile Clifton.

Jessie read Upper Broadway by Adrienne Rich and her original work, To the Birds.

Bonnie read who knows if the moon's by e. e. cummings. The version she brought was from poeticous.com; it used "baloon" and we wondered why, but now that looks like an oops. She also read Moon by Billy Collins in anticipation of tonight's full moon drumming circle.

November 2024

A week after the election, it's still on our minds so our reactions colored our readings and our discussion.

Lisa read Any Morning by William Stafford (a favorite poet for the group) and two of her own works, Twenty Five Dollar Checks and To Donald J.

Bonnie read Mundane by Rebecca Del Rio, On Falling (Blue Spruce) by Joanna Klink, and A Literary Lesson by Robley Wilson, Jr.

Marilyn shared her new work in progress, Moonset, and Shakespeare's Sonnet 29.

Julia read Worms by Carl Dennis (which coincidentally was on Bonnie's short list for the day) and Accidents of Birth by William Meredith.

September 2024

Bonnie read from A World Once Known by Al Zolynas: Santa Ana, Yet Again, and Legs.

Lisa read The Same Air by Al Zolynas and her own work from this last summer, So many ways to leave.

Marilyn brought her new work, Dear Emmy, and an older poem of hers, The Trial of O. J. Simpson. She also shared Dog's Death by John Updike.

Julia was prolific over the summer so we were treated to her poems, Agnostic Musings, A Dose of Reality, and Politically Incorrect.

May 2024

Bonnie read from A World Once Known by Al Zolynas: The Guilty Tree, Apple on A Desk, and House Hiking.

Julia read Fable by Andrea Cohen and At Church, I Tell My Mom She's Singing Off-Key and She Says.

Marilyn read two of her own works: To Our Ninth Grade Spanish Teacher (2008) and an untitled piece from 2011 beginning You can find some craft in these poems, but little art. In the car on the way, Marilyn told me a story about her student, Matthew Zapruder, who has made a career of writing poetry, and his book Why Poetry.

Jane read Joy's Way by Ana Lisa de Jong and Elegy for a Walnut Tree by W. S. Merwin.

January 2024

Marilyn shared her own autobiographical work, Epiphany. We enjoyed a discussion about the art and effort of memoir-writing, which then tied in with Julia's reading of an excerpt from Dogfish by Mary Oliver, beginning with the line, You don't want to hear the story of my life.

Marilyn also shared the timely Year's End by Richard Wilbur.

Bonnie read two poems from Seasons at the Patch by Kerry Shawn Keys: The Debt and Word of God.

Jane read two poems from Winter Morning Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison by Ted Kooser. We enjoyed hearing the story of the pen-pal poets and imagining the postman stopping to read the day's poem.

Julia also read blood sugar canto by ire'ne lara silva.

Joceline read If I Could Be from The Self-Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi, a poem by an unidentified student of the author.

Victoria read two of her original poems, Borealis and Misanthropy - Misogyny.

November 2023

Bonnie shared several poems from The Wild Iris by Louise Glück, who died a month ago: Clover, one of the Matins poems (p. 25, about weeding and looking for a four-leafed clover), and Early Darkness.

Joceline read Pretty Ugly by Abdullah Shoaib (in both directions) and I thought you were freedom by r.h. Sin.

Jane read The Uncertainty Principle by Alfred K LaMotte and Carrie by Ted Kooser.

Marilyn brought the collection An Early Afterlife by Linda Pastan and shared three poems from it: Daylight Savings, Thanksgiving, and The First Day of Winter.

Victoria read The Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.

Julia read Sacramento O No by Liz Waldner and Thanking My Mother for Piano Lessons.

September 2023

I decided to include multiple links where I had them, in case one disappears.

Jessie read i have been a thousand different women by Emory Hall, also available here.

Victoria read In an abandoned garden by Han Shan, translated by Burton Watson, also available here.

Marilyn shared several poems by William Stafford: You Reading This:Stop (late on that page, so scroll), The Whole Thing, and A Valley Like This.

Julia brought her original work, Mourning Changes, and Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

Bonnie shared her cento derived from The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller.

April 2023

We've been meeting alternate months but couldn't skip National Poetry Month, which Bonnie honored with a repeat of On How to Pick and Eat Poems by Phyllis Cole-Dai. Jane tells us that Cole-Dai has a second volume of Poetry of Presence, the first volume of which was Bonnie's source for her selections this month (though she found other links for them online).

We were in a springtime mood with a break in the rains, which we don't want to complain about but we do sometimes anyway because they just went on and on this year and we're tired of being cold and soggy.

Bonnie shared Flowering by Linda Buckmaster and April Is a Dog's Dream by Marilyn Singer.

Jane read three haiku of her own composition and In Case I Forget to Say It Enough by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer.

We discussed a phenomenon in which what starts out fresh and unique can inspire so much that the original itself begins to sound derivative. It's good to keep this in mind and read classics with fresh eyes, as Marilyn shared: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth, and two works by William Carlos Williams, Spring and All [By the road to the contagious hospital] and The Red Wheelbarrow.

March 2023

Bonnie read this difficult piece by Warsan Shire, Home. She repeated a favorite from a previous meeting, Insomnia by Ellen Bass.

Marilyn shared her work, For Jonathan and Kat, one in a series in honor of family members. We revisited Refrigerator from last time.

Jane read One Boy Told Me by Naomi Shihab Nye and The Secret by Denise Levertov.

Julia read her own work, Sojourning Spider, and something from Practical Gods by Carl Dennis, a book we have passed around the group. Unfortunately, I failed to record which poem it was and there are so many we like.

January 2023

Marilyn shared an entertaining and picaresque piece from The New Yorker about maraschino cherries: Refrigerator, 1957 by Thomas Lux. It brought to mind this other piece, not poetry but interesting with cherries, bees, Red Dye #40, and twisty turns: The Maraschino Mogul.

Julia read To the Garbage Collectors in Bloomington, Indiana, the First Pickup of the New Year by Philip Appleman and her original work, Mourning thoughts in Morning.

Bonnie read Rescue by Carl Dennis and I Met My Solitude by Naomi Replansky.

Jane shared links to two poems but somehow my notes don't show that she was present to read with us. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. But here are her January selections: What is Given: A Cento after May Sarton by Phyllis Cole-Dai and Prayer for the Unrung Bell by Dick Westheimer.

November 2022

Julia read Sonnet: I Thank You by Henry Timrod, which inspired lively discussion as we parsed the language and imagined a response. She also read Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden.

Marilyn shared her poem, Password, succinct and pithy, and read John Milton's Sonnet 19: When I consider how my light is spent, also sometimes identified as On His Blindness.

Marilyn's remarks about teaching sonnets by Shakespeare vs. Milton reminded us of Milton's Paradise Lost, which inspired Bonnie's reading of The Serpent to Adam by Carl Dennis. Bonnie had already given us Gelati by Carl Dennis; both Dennis works are from his collection Practical Gods.

September 2022

Perhaps inaccurate, reconstructed from memory and emails long after the fact:

Marilyn read her poem, On Being Marooned by COVID.

Bonnie read her poem, The Long Future, laugh lines by rupi kaur, and Prescription for the Disillusioned by Rebecca del Rio.

Jane read Bread by Richard Levine and poem by Wei Ying Wu

June 2022

Jane read To Earthward by Robert Frost and Remembrance by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Bonnie read Harlem by Langston Hughes and my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell by Gwendolyn Brooks.

Julia read three poems by her granddaughter Elise: The Holocaust, free verse poem, and Ode to Raspberries.

Marilyn brought a volume of William Butler Yeats and shared her selections When You Are Old and The Fiddler of Dooney. Then we also read The Second Coming, and Jessie chose The White Birds to read.

May 2022

Jennifer joined us this time and told us about the poetry class she is taking. She read some of her original work for the class, "Nonet to My Grandchild" and "Untitled Free Verse (Maybe Not So Free)."

Bonnie returned to the collection Near and Far by Al Zolynas, reading My Mother's Thumbs and Unreliable Narrators.

Julia celebrated Mother's Day with the American-Irish song Mother Machree by Rida Johnson Young and Chauncey Olcott. Read more about the term Mother Machree here. She also shared a poem from a card written by her daughter, "My Mom Makes the World a Better Place."

Marilyn shared poems by Gary Snyder, the short How Poetry Comes to Me and "Why I Like My Mac." Or maybe it was this one, Why I Take Good Care of my Macintosh.

April 2022

After skipping March, we met on Zoom again with another small group. Although Marilyn had sent her "apology" suite that we have been trying to hear for several months, once again technology interfered. We will meet in person in May!

From Jane, in celebration of National Poetry Month, we heard two poems about poetry: When I'm Asked by Lisel Mueller and Hiking Through Poetry by Phyllis Cole-Dai. (That link is to a blog page but you can get to the text of the poem from there.)

Bonnie read Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, in celebration of Ketanji Brown Jackson, our new KBJ, and Hawaii by Billy Collins from his collection, Whale Day. On the subject of Hawaii and W.S. Merwin, she invites us to enjoy the video The Sitting Room.

Julia shared Alone by Maya Angelou and The Dearth of Communism by Lewis MacAdams.

February 2022

Where Go the Boats? from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (shared by Julia)

The Land of Counterpane from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (shared by Julia)

I Want to Write Something So Simply from Evidence by Mary Oliver (shared by Bonnie)

Identity from Whale Day by Billy Collins (shared by Bonnie)

Praying by Mary Oliver (shared by Jane)

Four A.M. by Fred (Alfred K.) LaMotte (shared by Jane)

December 2021

Untitled original work by Drae

Poem No. 10 by Sonia Sanchez (shared by Drae)

Space Tourism by Julia

Your Luck is About to Change by Susan Elizabeth Howe (shared by Julia)

Selections from A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (shared by Marilyn)

And also, A Child's Christmas in Wales read by Dylan Thomas

Mysteries, Yes from Evidence by Mary Oliver (shared by Bonnie)

I Want from Evidence by Mary Oliver (shared by Bonnie)

What the Living Do by Marie Howe (shared by Jane)

Morning Glories by Fred LaMotte (shared by Jane)

November 2021

The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm by Wallace Stevens (shared by Marilyn)

A Simile for Her Smile by Richard Wilbur (shared by Marilyn)

Trackman by Julia

Trains Past by Julia

Trains Present by Julia

A selection of poems from Gazing at the Moon: Buddhist Poems of Solitude by Saigyo (shared by Jane)

Choices by Tess Gallagher (shared by Bonnie)

It Was Like This: You Were Happy by Jane Hirshfield (shared by Bonnie)

Shared but not read at meeting

Our Dove by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (shared by Alison)

October 2021

Academic Rebellion by Julia

Georgia Woods by Julia

Boston Irish Stick Together by Jean Washington (shared by Marilyn)

I am a woman of Afghanistan by Jean Washington (shared by Marilyn)

Visitors from Abroad by Louise Glück (shared by Bonnie)

Red Fox by Margaret Atwood (shared by Bonnie)

Inside by Linda Hogan (shared by Jane)

Emily Dickinson by Linda Pastan (shared by Jane)

(We skipped August and September due to scheduling conflicts and health issues.)

July 2021

It's Only a Game by Marilyn

Nothing by Linda Hogan (shared by Jane)

As from a Quiver of Arrows by Carl Philips (shared by Bonnie)

Untitled (Yom Kippur) by Marilyn

The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson (shared by Alison)

Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney (shared by Alison)

Never Mind One Day by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Franz Wright (shared by Jane) -- So beautiful, but we would like to find another translation. Also, you have to log into Facebook for this link to work.

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden (shared by Bonnie)

June 2021

Pilgrim by David Whyte (shared by Jane)

I Believe Nothing by Kathleen Raine (shared by Lisa)

How? from book of poems and quilts (shared by Julia)

A Toast by Julia

Teacher by Marilyn

On Guard by Marilyn

Not a God by Carl Dennis (shared by Bonnie)

Wait by Galway Kinnell (shared by Jane)

Lost by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (shared by Lisa)

Metamorphosis by Julia

Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War, Violent Storms, Pestilence, and Recovery from Illness, Contemplates the Desert in the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood (shared by Bonnie)

Shared but not read at meeting

Of Numbness, Of the Void, and Of Flowers from Beyond Rock Bottom by Kara Petrovic (shared by Alison)

May 2021

Your Specialist Subject by Alan Manford (shared by Julia)

After Newtown by Marilyn

Invisible Work by Alison Luterman (shared by Jane)

Prayer for Those Whose Work Is Invisible by Mary Gordon (shared by Bonnie)

Signs of Hope by Michael Thomas (shared by Julia)

To Watson, Christmas 1985 by Marilyn

Eating Alone by Li-Young Lee (shared by Jane)

Compare and Contrast by Bonnie

April 2021

I Knew a Woman by Theodore Roethke (shared by Marilyn)

Anti-Elegy by Thomas Centolella (shared by Jane)

Hoodie by January Gill O'Neil (shared by Lisa)

Four Hugs A Day by Charlotte Diamond (portions shared by Alison)

Poetry is My Underwear by April Halprin Wayland (shared by Julia)

I Have a Time Machine by Brenda Shaughnessy (shared by Bonnie)

Spring has sprawled into view by Marilyn

In Passing by Lisel Mueller (shared by Jane)

Something something something cake by Clara

Motherhood by Jessica Gigot (shared by Lisa)

The Forewoman Speaks by Kathleen McClung (shared by Julia)

Any Morning by William Stafford (shared by Bonnie)

March 2021

Messenger by Mary Oliver (shared by Jane)

Not the Idle from Practical Gods by Carl Dennis (shared by Bonnie)

A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky by Lewis Carroll (shared by Julia)

Finale by Marilyn

I Confess by Alison Luterman (shared by Ginny)

Foreday in the Morning by Jericho Brown (shared by Jane)

A Small Needful Fact by Ross Gay (shared by Bonnie)

Stuck by Julia

From near Vogelsang Peak by Marilyn

The Orange by Wendy Cope (shared by Ginny)

Catchment from Nuture by Maxine Kumin (shared by Bonnie)

February 2021

Pan with Us by Robert Frost (shared by Julia)

February by Marilyn

A Midwinter Poem (in refrigerator magnets) by Alison

Persephone by Joan Aleshire (shared by Bonnie)

What Did You Think? by Chris Bursk (shared by Ginny)

Music by Julia

Spring and All by William Carlos Williams (shared by Marilyn)

Persephone and the Light by Charlene Fix (shared by Bonnie)

Riveted by Sarah Robyn (shared by Ginny)

Shared but not read at meeting

Love in the Classroom by Al Zolynas (shared by Lisa)

January 1 by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (shared by Lisa)

Persephone Writes a Letter to her Mother by A.E. Stallings (shared by Bonnie)

Persephone's First Season in Hell by Alison Stone (shared by Bonnie)

January 2021

Buzzard by Marilyn

Complaint of El Río Grande by Richard Blanco (shared by Bonnie)

Women by Alice Walker (shared by Phyllis)

Long neglect has worn away by Emily Brontë (shared by Alison)

Promise by Phyllis Cole-Dai (shared by Jane)

The Cure by Albert Huffstickler (shared by Ginny)

6 p.m. News by Marilyn

The God Who Loves You by Carl Dennis (shared by Bonnie)

Refugees by Alice Walker (shared by Phyllis)

I thank Thich Nhat Hahn by Alice Walker (shared by Phyllis)

All hushed and still within the house by Emily Brontë (shared by Alison)

Had there been falsehood in my breast by Emily Brontë (shared by Alison)

Half Life by Stephen Levine (shared by Jane)

From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee (shared by Ginny)

Cabbage and Heart by Lisa

And yet by Lisa

December 2020

Amazing Grace by Marilyn

Comida by Victor Valle (shared by Audrey)

A Modern Irish Pagan's Lorica adapted from St. Patrick's Lorica by Morgan Daimler (shared by Drae)

How to Survive the Apocalypse by Sean Parker Dennison (shared by Jane)

Clearing by Martha Postlewaite (shared by Bonnie)

Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost (shared by Alison)

What I've Learned by Maya Angelou (shared by Ginny), see also Let's save Maya Angelou from fake quotes

Job's Wife by Marilyn

Sunset by Ziena

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (shared by Audrey)

Prayer for Words by N. Scott Monday (shared by Drae)

In Praise of Praise by Sean Parker Dennison (shared by Jane)

Things by Lisel Mueller (shared by Bonnie)

In Answer to Your Query by Naomi Lazard (shared by Ginny)

Shared but not read at meeting

i carry your heart by e.e. cummings (shared by Judy)

i like my body when it is with your by e.e. cummings (shared by Judy)

Flatline by Margaret Atwood (shared by Marilyn)

November 2020

The Facts of Life by Padraig O Tuama (shared by Jane)

The Snowstorm by Loren Eiseley (shared by Janet)

God Says Yes To Me by Kaylin Haught (shared by Lisa)

The Woodsons of Ohio by Jacqueline Woodson (shared by Audrey)

An Incomplete History (abridged) by Drae

Five Easy Prayers for Pagans by Phillip Appleman (shared by Bonnie)

Tree At My Window by Robert Frost (shared by Judy)

Daughter by Ginny

To Spareness: An Assay by Jane Hirshfield (shared by Jane)

Friends by Dana Craik (shared by Janet)

The Suburbs by Hafiz (shared by Lisa)

A Million Candles by Jack Prelutsky (shared by Audrey)

That's What Ze Said by Nancy L Meyer (shared by Drae)

The Unknown Bird by Edward Thomas (shared by Bonnie)

Mending Wall by Robert Frost (shared by Judy)

For a Five-Year-Old by Fleur Adcock (shared by Ginny)

October 2020

Birth of the Foal by Ferenc Juhasz (shared by Audrey)

Winter Stars by Sara Teasdale (shared by Bonnie)

Autumn by Louise Glück (shared by Marilyn)

Poem in October by Dylan Thomas (shared by Marilyn)

When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou (shared by Drae)

Gardening in 2020 by Julia

Making a Salad by Glen Sorestad (shared by Ginny)

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye (shared by Judy)

a girl named jack by Jacqueline Woodson (shared by Audrey)

Windchime by Tony Hoagland (shared by Bonnie)

February 3, 2018 by Drae

Working in the Rain by Robert Morgan (shared by Ginny)

Turn Again to Life by Mary Lee Hall (shared by Judy)

Dead Man's Hate by Robert Erwin Howard (shared by Julia)

Shared on mailing list but not read at meeting

Monica by Laura Read (shared by Ginny)

Excerpt from Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück (shared by Marilyn)

September 2020

He wishes his Beloved were Dead by William Butler Yeats (shared by Marilyn)

I Was Always Leaving by Jean Nordhaus (shared by Jane)

Heart to Heart by Rita Dove (shared by Bonnie)

Grammy's Plea by Julia

On preparing for a Zoom meeting by Lisa

As It Is by Gary Soto (shared by Drae)

february 12, 1963 by Jacqueline Woodson (shared by Audrey)

Playing Family by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (shared by Lisa)

Laudamus by Gregory Loselle (shared by Ginny)

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond by e.e. cummings (shared by Marilyn)

The Death of Allegory by Billy Collins (shared by Jane)

Family Reunion by Rita Dove (shared by Bonnie)

Monologue for an Onion by Suji Kwock Kim (shared by Julia)

For a Friend by Drae

second daughter's second day on earth by Jacqueline Woodson (shared by Audrey)

Happiness by Raymond Carver (shared by Ginny)

Shared on mailing list but not read at meeting

The Hair On My Back: A Bald Man's Lament by Yoshi Wrangler (shared by Judy)

Exactly as I Like It by Caren Krutsinger (shared by Judy)

For Girls Made of Storms and Sadness by Nikita Gill (shared by Drae)

August 2020

Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins (shared by Marilyn)

Why I Don't Mention Flowers... by Natalie Diaz (shared by Bonnie)

Come With Me by Michael W. Thomas (shared by Julia)

Dirge without Music by Edna St. Vincent Millay (shared by Jane)

Remodeling the Bathroom by Ellen Bass (shared by Ginny)

i want to apologize... by rupi kaur (shared by Judy)

Psalm 151 by Marilyn

Upon Discovering... by Dobby Gibson (shared by Bonnie)

Poems, Paintings and People by Julia

From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee (shared by Jane)

The Spoon by Richard Jones (shared by Ginny)

I Am in Need of Music by Elizabeth Bishop (shared by Judy)

July 2020

Fire by Judy Sorum Brown (shared by Ginny)

Fire On The Hills by Robinson Jeffers (shared by Marilyn)

The Pros and Cons of the Pathetic Fallacy by Chris Bursk (shared by Bonnie)

won't you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton (shared by Julia)

Variation on a Theme by W.S. Merwin from Collected Poems 1996-2011 (shared by Jane)

Variation on a Theme by W.S. Merwin from The Moon Before Morning (2014) (shared by Jane)

Smart Cookie by Richard Schiffman (shared by Lisa)

Mind Wanting More by Holly J. Hughes (shared by Ginny)

anyone lived in a prety how town by e. e. cummings (shared by Marilyn)

Giveaway by Kim Shuck (shared by Bonnie)

Driving Home from Death by Julia

Still to Come by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (shared by Lisa)

A Black Kite by W. S. Merwin (shared by Jane)

June 2020

For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet by Joy Harjo (shared by Ginny with title This)

What if I fail by Marilyn

Grace by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (shared by Lisa)

Who Knows If the Moon's... by e.e. cummings (shared by Alison)

Shoulders by Naomi Shihab Nye (shared by Jane)

Freeway Lament by Julia

Stubborn by Bonnie

A Winter Blue Jay by Sara Teasdale (shared by Judy)

Wanting Not Wanting by John Boehm (shared by Ginny)

Password by Marilyn

Thanks by W.S. Merwin (shared by Lisa)

Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost (shared by Alison)

To Say Nothing But Thank You by Jeanne Lohmann (shared by Jane)

Saving the Planet by Alan Manford (shared by Julia)

My Debt by Jane Hirshfield (shared by Bonnie)

Death at the Bird Feeder by Judy

May 2020

Morning Poem by Mary Oliver (shared by Ginny)

Bored by Margaret Atwood (shared by Bonnie)

Shopping Online by Alan Manford (shared by Julia)

Today I saved a life by Marilyn

20th Century Magic (1992) by Victoria

Healing by Pesha Joyce Gertler (shared by Jane)

A Litany for Survival by Audre Lorde (shared by Carol)

When You Come to Me by Maya Angelou (shared by Judy)

This much I do remember by Billy Collins (shared by Ginny)

The Patience of Ordinary Things by Pat Schneider, from Poems of Presence (shared by Bonnie)

Parkland Trees by Alan Manford (shared by Julia)

Compost Wisdom by Marilyn

4:00 a.m. on the Terrace by John Ciardi (shared by Victoria)

Thrive by Fred LaMott (shared by Jane)

On Aging by Maya Angelou (shared by Judy)

Three a.m. by Jill McDonough (shared by Carol)

April 2020

Can I Call You Back? by Esther Cohen (shared by Ginny)

When I Am Among the Trees by Mary Oliver (shared by Jane)

Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath (shared by Bonnie)

A Message from Scottie by Ellen Richards (shared by Gerrie)

Sun by Julia

Valencia by Becca Rapp (shared by Carol)

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (shared by Alison)

No "Sonnets From the Portuguese" shared by Mari because they were so filled with loss, angst, and death wishes. We are all grateful.

Water by Bob Blackwell (shared by Victoria)

Tea (for Thich Nhat Hanh) by Amy Uyematsu (shared by Ginny)

Antidotes to Fear of Death by Rebecca Elson (shared by Jane)

Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye (shared by Bonnie)

Untitled Original Work (Synapses) by Gerrie

Automatic Firing by Julia

Happiness by Jane Kenyon (shared by Carol)

It Takes a Pandemic by Victoria

Reflections (shared by Mari)

The Way We Love Something Small by Kimberly Blaeser (shared by Rita via email)

A Poem on Hope by Wendell Berry (shared by Marianne via email)

March 2020

Love by Pablo Neruda (shared by Judy)

Harlem by Langston Hughes (shared by Bonnie)

Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant by Billy Collins (shared by Marianne)

Any Common Desolation by Ellen Bass (shared by Ginny)

Resolutions by Ron Salisbury (shared by Judy)

A Color of the Sky by Tony Hoagland (shared by Bonnie)

Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen (shared by Ginny)

Meditation by Billy Collins(shared by Marianne)

February 2020

A Message from Scottie by Ellen Richards (shared by Gerrie)

Valentine Card from Barbe (shared by Bette)

The Long Future by Bonnie

A selection of haiku and senryu from The Withered Leaf by Adam Gillon (shared by Julia)

Three encounters while shopping at Smart and Final by Ginny

“Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson (shared by Mari)

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas (shared by Judy)

How to Be a Poet (to remind myself) by Wendell Berry (shared by Jane)

The Cold Within by George Kirby (shared by Bette)

Each Moment a White Bull Steps Shining into the World from The Lives of the Heart by Jane Hirshfield (shared by Bonnie)

Coffee by Julia

17th Century Nun's Prayer (shared by Ginny)

A Ritual to Read to Each Other by William E. Stafford (shared by Mari)

You're by Sylvia Plath (shared by Judy)

To the New Year by W.S. Merwin (shared by Jane)

January 2020

"Cameron Arrives" by Julia

"Uncertainty" by Al Zolynas from Near and Far (shared by Bonnie)

"I Love a Lonely Winding Road" by Alora M. Knight (shared by Mari)

"The World Is Too Much With Us" by William Wordsworth (shared by Judy)

"Instantes" (shared by Ginny). This is apparently widely and incorrectly attributed to Jorge Luis Borges. What we read was a little different and was said to be translated by Isabel Schon.

"A Different Life" by Al Zolynas from Near and Far (shared by Bonnie)

"20 Reasons Why I Can't Order in a Restaurant" by Miles McInerney (shared by Judy). The link is a newspaper article that gives some background on the author and ends with this poem.

"Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down" by Chris Bursk (shared by Ginny)

December 2019

"I Give You Back" by Joy Harjo (shared by Judy)

"Wendy Cope has serious concerns about Christmas" by Wendy Cope (shared by Victoria)

"Encounter in August" by Maxine Kumin from Nurture (shared by Bonnie)

"My Most Constant Friend" by Gerrie

"Appeal to the Grammarians" by Paul Violi (shared by Ginny)

"Eagle Poem" by Joy Harjo (shared by Judy)

"The Cat" by Lara Wilber (shared by Victoria)

"A Pillow Over Rumpled Sheets" by Barbara Weber (shared by Bonnie)

"La Hoja" (The Leaf) by Salvador Cardinal (shared by Gerrie)

"Upon becoming aware that the universe either extends without end... or it doesn't" by Ginny

November 2019

"Dr. Hank" by John Rubin, styled after Gunga Din (shared by Bonnie)

"A Winter Dialogue" by Joseph Robert Mills (shared by Ginny)

"Gettysburg" by Tim Nolan (shared by Jane)

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth (shared by Victoria)

"Whisper Leaves" by Joe Henchy (shared by Gerrie)

"Habits of the Hippopotamus" by Arthur Guiterman (shared by Bonnie)

"Portrait of the Artist" by Dorothy Parker (shared by Bonnie)

"On How to Pick and Eat Poems" by Phyllis Cole-Dai (shared by Ginny)

"Monet Refuses the Operation" by Lisel Mueller (shared by Jane)

"Alaska haiku" from The Pencil and the Stars (shared by Victoria)

"The Sound of Silence" by Raymond John Baughan (shared by Gerrie)

October 2019

"Everything" by Mary Oliver from New and Selected Poems Volume Two (shared by Jane)

"Just Now" by W.S. Merwin from The Pupil (shared by Jane)

"My Sadie's Adventure, A Narrative Poem" by Brandon (shared by Carol)

Excerpt from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran (shared by Carol)

"Autumn Leaves" by Gerrie

Email from Katie (shared by Gerrie)

"Gunga Din" by Rudyard Kipling (shared by Victoria)

"McKinley Mine" by Victoria

"The Sweetness of Dogs" by Mary Oliver, from Dog Songs (shared by Bonnie)

"Benjamin, Who Came From Who Knows Where" by Mary Oliver, from Dog Songs (shared by Bonnie)

"Song" by Adrienne Rich (shared by Ginny)

"Poetry" by Nikki Giovanni (shared by Ginny)

September 2019

"For Katie" by Gerrie

"Romantic Gene" by Carol

"My Son Shaves" by Carol

"Lending Out Books" by Hal Sirowitz (shared by Bette)

"Courage" by Anne Sexton (shared by Bette)

"Television" by Roald Dahl (shared by Judy)

"Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost (shared by Judy)

"The Leaf and the Cloud" (excerpt) by Mary Oliver (shared by Jane)

"Twice Blessed" by David Whyte (shared by Jane)

"A Note" by Wislawa Szymborska (shared by Ginny)

"The Thing is..." by Ellen Bass (shared by Ginny)

"Jacob's Lake" by Victoria

"Forest Meditations" by John Muir (shared by Ginny)

August 2019

"Insomnia" by Ellen Bass (shared by Ginny)

"Kiss" by Ellen Bass (shared by Ginny)

"Smashing the Plates" by Alison Luterman (shared by Ginny)

"Hurry" by Marie Howe from The Kingdom of Ordinary Time (shared by Victoria)

"Parting" by Nyogen Senzaki from Tricycle Magazine Spring 2019 (shared by Bonnie)

"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats (shared by Bonnie)

July 2019

"The Garden by my House" by Gerrie

"Do Not Worry" by Rumi (shared by Gerrie)

"To See It" by Laura Foley (shared by Jane)

"Aimless Love" by Billy Collins (shared by Jane)

"So Much Happiness" by Naomi Shihab Nye (shared by Ginny)

"Shoveling Snow with Buddha" by Billy Collins (shared by Ginny)

"Look to this Day" ancient Sanskrit poem (shared by Dani)

"Let the Mystery Be" by Iris Dement (shared by Dani)

"Gmorning" by Lin Manuel Miranda (shared by Mari)

"Gnight" by Lin Manuel Miranda (shared by Mari)

"Mighty Pawns" by Major Jackson (shared by Brenda)

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou (shared by Brenda)

June 2019

"The Cure" by Albert Huffstickler from Poetry of Presence (shared by Bonnie)

"Mind Wanting More" by Holly J. Hughes from Poetry of Presence (shared by Bonnie)

"Her Name Was Hildy" by Gerrie H

"Poem For My Father" by Quincy Trouppe (shared by Judy)

"A Poem for Magic" by Quincy Trouppe (shared by Judy)

"Last Touch" by Edwin Romond (shared by Ginny)

"On Winter's Margin" by Mary Oliver

"Ode to a Cockroach" by Victoria T

"Thanks, Robert Frost" by David Ray

"She Let Go" by Safire Rose (shared by Ginny)

May 2019

"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred Lord Tennyson (shared by Bette)

"To be of use" by Marge Piercy (shared by Bonnie)

"Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye (shared by Bonnie)

"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver (shared by Brenda)

"The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver (shared by Brenda)

"I, being born a woman and distressed (Sonnet 41)" by Edna St. Vincent Millay (shared by Judy)

"What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why (Sonnet 43)" by Edna St. Vincent Millay (shared by Judy)

"For Joe" by Gerrie H

"One I Can Read" by Carol Y

"Hurry" by Marie Howe from The Kingdom of Ordinary Time (shared by Victoria)

"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins (shared by Ginny)

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost (not sure which meeting or by whom this was shared)