This book is about life, love, hurt, pain, life, and death, all of the many phases that affect us as human beings. Through poetic artistry, Through the Eyes of a Poet speaks from the heart several glimpses of who we are and how to overcome. Over the course of several years, writing poetry and this collection have captured the voice of God through the heart of a woman, a sister, a daughter, a friend. Because of her ability to hear the Spirits voice, she survived and was made even stronger. I want to share with you what helped me. Poetry is what poetry gives.
Featuring contributions from widely published and practicing poets who are also experienced teachers and presenters of poetry, The Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry provides students and other readers with invaluable practical advice. Ideal for courses in poetry writing and creative writing, it includes six sections written by Billy Collins, Carol Muske, David Baker and Ann Townsend, Yusef Komunyakaa, Maxine Kumin, and David Citino. These poets speak their minds about their relationship with their art and craft, offering guidance to writers at all levels of experience from the beginner to the veteran. In his section, Billy Collins looks at the ways reading and writing poetry give readers pleasure, while Carol Muske's essay examines the question, "What is a poem?" David Baker and Ann Townsend discuss the formal and musical aspects of composing and reading poems; they include many engaging exercises and directions to further reading. Yusef Komunyakaa enrolls readers in a virtual poetry workshop, Maxine Kumin considers the necessities and demands of audience, and David Citino talks about the roles that poets play as they conceive and execute their work. In their essays, the contributors include examples of poems--written by themselves or others--to illustrate key points. While the chapters are meant to be self-contained explorations, they are also interrelated parts of the volume as a whole. The Eye of the Poet is a stimulating conversation in which successful poets share with readers their enthusiasm, knowledge, and vision, as well as their estimation of the possibilities of the poem. In this book, students of poetry will discover the wide variety of options available to them when they sit down to create their own works.
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY Winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets, selected by Juan Felipe Herrera For years now, I’ve been using the wrong palette. Each year with its itchy blue, as the bruise of solitude reaches its expiration date. Planes and buses, guesthouse to guesthouse. I’ve gotten to where I am by dint of my poor eyesight, my overreactive motion sickness. 9 p.m., Hanoi’s Old Quarter: duck porridge and plum wine. Voices outside the door come to a soft boil. —from “Phnom Penh Diptych: Dry Season” Jenny Xie’s award-winning debut, Eye Level, takes us far and near, to Phnom Penh, Corfu, Hanoi, New York, and elsewhere, as we travel closer and closer to the acutely felt solitude that centers this searching, moving collection. Animated by a restless inner questioning, these poems meditate on the forces that moor the self and set it in motion, from immigration to travel to estranging losses and departures. The sensual worlds here—colors, smells, tastes, and changing landscapes—bring to life questions about the self as seer and the self as seen. As Xie writes, “Me? I’m just here in my traveler’s clothes, trying on each passing town for size.” Her taut, elusive poems exult in a life simultaneously crowded and quiet, caught in between things and places, and never quite entirely at home. Xie is a poet of extraordinary perception—both to the tangible world and to “all that is untouchable as far as the eye can reach.”
A Stirring Collection of Verse Embark on an evocative journey through life and landscape with Poems, an acclaimed anthology by the peerless Elizabeth Bishop. This anthology places the reader at the heart of experience, rendering the grandeur of human existence and our symbiotic relationship with the natural realm, through precision-tuned verse that oscillates between humor and sorrow, acceptance and affliction. Bishop's artistry immerses us in evocative landscapes, from the nostalgic corners of New England, her childhood abode, to the vibrant hues of Brazil and the lush expanses of Florida, her later homes. Rich in geographical motifs, the collection navigates the intertwined tapestry of human life and nature, revealing the poet's intrinsic ability to render chaos into form. A vital presence in twentieth-century literature, this anthology forges an essential window into Bishop's world, offering a comprehensive view into her profound career. Whether you’re new to Bishop's work or a longtime admirer, you’ll discover the unique perspective she brought to English-language poetry, solidifying this anthology as a definitive cornerstone in any poetry collection.
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award! Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing New York Times-bestselling novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet, about an Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth. Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can’t stop thinking about performing her poems. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent. “Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice.” —Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation “An incredibly potent debut.” —Jason Reynolds, author of the National Book Award Finalist Ghost “Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero.” —Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street This young adult novel, a selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List, is an excellent choice for accelerated tween readers in grades 6 to 8. Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land!
Poet, philosopher and artist, Khalil Gibran was a man whose fame and influence spread far beyond his native Lebanon. Drawn from Gibran's prose, poetry and letters previously available only in Arabic, The Eye of the Prophet is a source of enlightenment and reflection to guide readers through daily life.
