Contemporary Poetry to Savor


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Ashbery, John - Where Shall I Wander
(811.54 As) Featuring linguistic play, unexpected conjunctions, yet portraying a realistic view of the natural world, these postmodern poems take the reader on an interesting journey.

Bierds, Linda - First Hand: Poems
(811.54) BiIn sensual language, Bierds tackles science including DNA, radiation, and vision. Breathtaking metaphors make the science understandable to all.

Collins, Billy - Sailing Alone Around the Room
(811.54 Co) Greatest hits from a funny poet who has brought a brand new audience to poetry. Despite their light tone, these poems present hard-earned truths.

Forche, Carolyn - Blue Hour
(811.54 Fo) Modeled on ancient Gnostic hymns, these poems are not easy but well worth the effort. One long poem is written in the form of an abecedary.

Gluck, Louise - Vita Nova
(811.54 Gl) Poems about memory, love, childhood—all the usual themes—but each is also a meditation on spring. Composed in penetrating and uplifting language.

Hirshfield, Jane - After: Poems
(811.54. Hi) Influenced by her Buddhist faith, the poet offers a Zen approach to writing and a simplicity that stems from deep observation. These poems—many about the natural world--celebrate individual moments.

Kooser, Ted - Delights & Shadows: Poems
(811.54 Ko) Fresh, spontaneous poems that everyone can understand. These poems by a poet of place from the heartland (Nebraska) make dailiness holy.

Kunitz, Stanley - Passing Through: the Later Poems
(811.54 Ku) Written in his ninetieth year, this prolific poet wrote about nature, family, and gardens. A poet who celebrates being human in all its manifestations.

Lee, Li-Young - Book of My Nights
(811.54 Le) These poems are lyrical and luminescent, yet composed in plain speech. They reveal a person trying to bridge several cultures, that of his Chinese heritage, of his Indonesian childhood, and of his Midwestern home.

Lynch, Thomas - Still Life In Milford
(811.54 Ly) An undertaker examines issues of morality, sex, mortality, and the old country, Ireland. A life-affirming collection.

Nye, Naomi Shihab - 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East
(811.54 Nye) An award winning American poet chronicles crescent shaped cakes, pistachios, orchards, and Jewish and Arab women conversing. From a region that she knows very well, Nye shows by example that “where we live in the world/ is never one place.”

Olds, Sharon - Strike Sparks: Selected Poems, 1980-2002
(811.54 Ol) Brutally honest poems that discuss love, lust, family. Olds writes from a feminist perspective but her themes are universal. Her images dance off the page. She penetrates to the emotional core of experience.

Oliver, Mary - The Leaf and the Cloud
(811.54 Ol) One long poem in seven parts. No other American poet more closely observes nature, nor shares its blessings.

Pastan, Linda - Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems
(811.54 Pa) In easily accessible language Pastan reports on such everyday activities as doctors’ visits, RSVPs, storms, and night sounds. From Pastan, we learn how to really live in the world.

Simic, Charles - The Voice at 3:00 a.m.: Selected Late & New Poems
(811.54 Si) With sardonic humor, Simic peels away the layers in society and politics. Rich and lyrical, these poems share a sense of the moral and sublime.

Twichell, Chase - Dog Language
(811.54 Tw) Twichell talks about adult themes: death, reminiscences, drug-taking, and the art of a kiss. Without sentimentality, Twichell uses beautiful imagery to describe modern life.

Wright, Franz - God's Silence
(811.54 Wr) Honest poetry by a Pulitzer Prize winner. The depth of feeling conveyed in these poems will draw you in and encourage several readings.

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