Good poems for hard times

Introduction Kindness To Snails: Break of day / Galway Kinnell Happiness / Raymond Carver This morning / Jane Kenyon Monks of St John's file in the prayer / Kilian McDonnell Job / William Baer Or death and December / George Garrett Sonnet: "Rarely, rarely comest thou, spirit of delight" / Gavin Ewart Little horse is new / E E Cummings Poem for Emily / Miller Williams For a five-year-old / Fleur Adcock For my daughter in reply to a question / David Ignatow Goose / Muriel Spark Starting the Subaru at five below / Stuart Kestenbaum Day bath / Debra Spencer Such As It Is More Or Less: Dialogue of watching / Kenneth Rexroth Birthday / W S Merwin Thoughts in a garden / Andrew Marvell Spring / Mary Oliver Unharvested / Robert Frost State of the economy / Louis Jenkins Arraignment / Debra Spencer From "song of myself" / Walt Whitman Ice storm / Jane Kenyon Passengers / Billy Collins Summer-camp bus pulls away from the curb / Sharon Olds You can take it with out / Josephine Jacobsen To David, about his education / Howard Nemerov Invitation / Carl Dennis Calling him back from layoff / Bob Hicok Working in the rain / Robert Morgan My father's lunch / Erica Funkhouser This Lust Of Tenderness: Happiest day / Linda Pastan After dark vapours have oppressed our plains' / John Keats Children's hospital, emergency room / Gregory Djanikian Lonely-weds know / Leah Furnas In answer to your query / Naomi Lazard Toast / Leonard Nathan Detail waiting for a train / Stanley Plumly September twelfth, 2001 / X J Kennedy Alter / Charles Simic Sonnet no 6 dearest: I never know such loving / Hayden Carruth There comes the strangest moment / Kate Light Snowflake / William Baer Somewhere I'll find you / Phebe Hanson Feasting / Elizabeth W Garber Song / W.H. Auden Yes / Catherine Doty Dalliance of the eagles / Walt Whitman After love / Maxine Kumin Sonnet CVI: When in the chronicle of wasted time / William Shakespeare Deliberate Obfuscation: Spiral notebook / Ted Kooser What's in my journal / William Stafford Why I took good care of my Macintosh / Gary Snyder Ode to my 1977 Toyota / Barbara Hamby Internal exile / Richard Cecil Burma-Shave Carnation milk / Anonymous Brief lecture on door closers / Clements Starck Sonnet Xll: Why are we by all creatures waited on? / John Donne Angels / Maurya Simon Passing through a small town / David Shumate In Paris with you / James Fenton Wedding poem for Schele and Phi / Bill Holm Sound Of A Car: Seven deadly sins / Virginia Hamilton Adair Teaching a child the art of confession / David Shumate Physics / Heather McHugh Things / Lisel Mueller Any prince to any princess / Adrian Henri Courage that my mother had / Edna St Vincent Millay Please Mrs Butler / Allan Ahlberg To a frustrated poet / R J Ellmann Lesson of the moth / Don Marquis Disappointment / Tony Hoagland Cure / Ginger Andrews Upon hearing about the suicide of the daughter of friends / Jo McDougall Here It Comes: Con job / Charles Bukowski Farewell to A' our Scottish fame / Robert Burns Easter morning / Jim Harrison Million young workmen, 1915 / Carl Sandburg College colonel / Herman Melville Ordinary life / Barbara Crooker Fight aloud, is very brave / Emily Dickinson Analysis of baseball / May Swenson Ode to American English / Barbara Hamby High water mark / David Shumate After school on ordinary days / Maria Mazziotti Gillan Snow in the suburbs / Thomas Hardy Now winter nights enlarge / Thomas Campion Happiness / Michael Van Walleghen From tender buttons / Gertrude Stein Classic ballroom dances / Charles Simic Theater / William Greenway Ode on the whole duty of parents / Frances Cornford

Whatever Happens:

Benefits of ignorance / Hal Sirowitz

Bunthiorne's song / W S Gilbert

Rules of evidence / Lee Robinson

Courtesy / Hilaire Belloc

What the uneducated old woman told me / Christopher Reid

Proverbs of hell / William Blake

To a daughter leaving home / Linda Pastan

No longer a teenager / Gerald Locklin

Prayer / Galway Kinnell

Minnesota Thanksgiving / John Berryman

Berryman / W S Merwin

Mother, in love at sixty / Susanna Styve

My agent says / R S Gwynn

Afraid so / Jeanne Marie Beaumont

Yak / Hilaire Belloc

High plains farming / William Notter

Fish / Elizabeth Bishop

Future / Wesley McNair

Riveted / Robyn Sarah

All that time / May Swenson

My husband discovers poetry / Diane Lockward

Poet's occasional alternative / Grace Paley

Unsaid / Stephen Dunn

Snapshot of a lump / Kelli Russell Agodon

Hymn to God, my God, in my sickness / John Donne

Last days / Donald Hall

Let It Spill:

Thelonious Monk / Stephen Dobyns

Discovery of sex / Debra Spencer

Lawyer / Carl Sandburg

Prodigal son's brother / Steve Kowit

Calling your father / Robert Bly

Al and Beth / Louis Simpson

Meeting / Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Nothing is lost / Noel Coward

Planet on the table / Wallace Stevens

It is raining on the house of Ann Frank / Linda Pastan

Sunlight on the garden / Louis MacNeice

Too sweet / Charles Bukowski

For my sister, emigrating / Wendy Cope

Three Kings / Muriel Spark

Not only the Eskimos / Lisel Mueller

Where go the boats / Robert Louis Stevenson

Parade / Billy Collins

My cup / Robert Friend

Affirmation / Donald Hall

Singing voice / Kenneth Rexroth

Since you asked / Lawrence Raab

Inviting a friend to supper / Ben Johnson

Love cook / Ron Padgett

Soda crackers / Raymond Carver

That silent evening / Galway Kinnell

This is how memory works / Patricia Hampl

Purpose of time is to prevent everything from happening at once / X J Kennedy

I Feel Our Kinship:

Death mask / Edward Field

That's the sum of it / David Ignatow

Suck it up / Paul Zimmer

Day the tree fell down / Jack LaZebnik

White autumn / Robert Morgan

Naked / Jennifer Michael Hecht

Slow children at play / Cecilia Woloch

Driving to town late to mail a letter / Robert Bly

My brother's in Wyoming / Gary Young

My brother / Denver Butson

Still life / Carl Sandburg

Changing light / Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Fishhouses / Elizabeth Bishop

Man in Maine / Philip Booth

War in the air / Howard Nemerov

In the middle / Barbara Crooker

Are you tired of me, my darling?/ Traditional

On a night of snow / Elizabeth Coatsworth

Closing in on the harvest / Leo Dangel

Reconciliation / Walt Whitman

Tie the strings to my life, my Lord / Emily Dickinson

Last waltz / Alden Nowlan

Rye Whiskey / Traditional

Let old Nellie stay / Traditional

In praise of my bed / Meredith Holmes

Poem for the family / Susan Cataldo

In bed with a book / Mona Van Duyn

My father gets up in the middle of the night to watch an old movie / Dennis Trudell

Prayer in the prospect of death / Robert Burns

Diner / Louis Jenkins

When death comes / Mary Oliver

My funeral / Willis Barnstone

Wish to be generous / Wendell Berry

Last poem / Ted Berrigan

Simpler Than I Could Find Words For:

Just now / W S Merwin

Psalm 51

Dawn revisited / Rita Dove

Crossing the bar / Alford, Lord Tennyson

Morning swim / Maxine Kumin

Biographies

Author Index

Title Index.

Break of day / Galway Kinnell - Happiness / Raymond Carver - This morning / Jane Kenyon - The monks of St. John's file in for prayer / Kilian McDonnell - Job / William Baer - Or death and December / George Garrett - Sonnet: "Rarely, rarely comest thou, spirit of delight" / Gavin Ewart - The little horse is newlY / E.E. Cummings - A poem for Emily / Miller Williams - For a five-year-old / Fleur Adcock - For my daughter in reply to a question / David Ignatow - The goose / Muriel Spark - Starting the Subaru at five below / Stuart Kestenbaum - Day bath / Debra Spencer - A dialogue of watching / Kenneth Rexroth - A birthday / W. S. Merwin - Thoughts in a garden / Andrew Marvell - Spring / Mary Oliver - Unharvested / Robert Frost - The state of the economy / Louis Jenkins - At the arraignment / Debra Spencer - From "Song of myself" / Walt Whitman - Ice storm / Jane Kenyon - Passengers / Billy Collins - The summer-camp bus pulls away from the curb / Sharon Olds - You can take it with you / Josephine Jacobsen - To David, about his education / Howard Nemerov - Invitation / Carl Dennis - Calling him back from layoff / Bob Hicok - Working in the rain / Robert Morgan - My father's lunch / Erica Funkhouser - The happiest day / Linda Pastan - 'After dark vapours have oppressed our plains' / John Keats - Children's hospital, emergency room / Gregory Djanikian - The longly-weds know / Leah Furnas - In answer to your query / Naomi Lazard - Toast / Leonard Nathan - Detail waiting for a train / Stanley Plumly - September twelfth, 2001 / X. J. Kennedy - The altar / Charles Simic - Sonnet No. 6: Dearest, I never knew such loving / Hayden Carruth - There comes the strangest moment / Kate Light - Snowflake / William Baer - Somewhere I'll find you / Phebe Hanson - Festing / Elizabeth W. Garber - Song / W. H. Auden - Yes / Catherine Doty - The dalliance of the eagles / Walt Whitman - After love / Maxine Kumin - Sonnet CVI: When in the chronicle of wasted time / William Shakespeare - A spiral notebook / Ted Kooser - What's in my journal / William Stafford - Why I take good care of my Macintosh / Gary Snyder - Ode to my 1977 Toyota / Barbara Hamby - Internal exile / Richard Cecil - Burma-shave / Traditional - Carnation milk / Anonymous - A brief lecture on door closers / Clemens Starck - Sonnet XII: Why are we by all creatures waited on? / John Donne - Angels / Maurya Simon - Passing through a small town / David Shumate - In Paris with you / James Fenton - Wedding poem for Schele and Phil / Bill Holm - Seven deadly sins / Virginia Hamilton Adair - Teaching a child the art of confession / David Shumate - A physics / Heather McHugh - Things / Lisel Mueller - Any prince to any princess / Adrian Henri - The courage that my mother had / Edna St. Vincent Millay - Please Mrs. Butler / Allan Ahlberg - To a frustrated poet / R. J. Ellmann - The lesson of the moth / Don Marquis - Disappointment / Tony Hoagland - The cure / Ginger Andrews - Upon hearing about the suicide of the daughter of friends / Jo McDougall - The con job / Charles Bukowski - Fareweel to A' our Scottish fame / Robert Burns - Easter morning / Jim Harrison - A million young workmen, 1915 / Carl Sandburg - The college colonel / Herman Melville - Ordinary life / Barbara Crooker - To fight aloud, is very brave / Emily Dickinson - Analysis of baseball / May Swenson - Ode to American English / Barbara Hamby - High water mark / David Shumate - After school on ordinary days / Maria Mazziotti Gillan - Snow in the suburbs / Thomas Hardy - Now winter nights enlarge / Thomas Campion - Happiness / Michael Van Walleghen - From Tender buttons / Gertrude Stein - Classic ballroom dances / Charles Simic - Theater / William Greenway - Ode on the whole duty of parents / Frances Cornford - The benefits of ignorance / Hal Sirowitz - Bunthorne's song / W. S. Gilbert - The rules of evidence / Lee Robinson - Courtesy / Hilaire Belloc - What the uneducated old woman told me / Christopher Reid - Proverbs of hell / Willia