If you dig that hole deep enough,
you’ll reach China, they used to tell me,
a child in a backyard in Pennsylvania.
Not strong enough to dig that hole,
I waited twenty years,
then sailed back, half way around the world.
– Amy Ling, “Grandma Ling”
All night I dreamed of my home,
of the roads that are so long
and straight they die in the middle–
among the spines of elderly weeds
on either side, among the dead cats,
the ants who are all eyes, the suitcase
thrown open, sprouting failures.
– Larry Levis, “Signs”
Read an interview with Larry Levis:
After the Obsession with Some Beloved Figure: An Interview with Larry Levis on JSTOR
Leslie Kelen, Larry Levis, After the Obsession with Some Beloved Figure: An Interview with Larry Levis, The Antioch Review, Vol. 48, No. 3, Poetry Today (Summer, 1990), pp. 284-299
Applying to Heavy Equipment School
I marched farther into the Great Plains
And refused to come out.
I threw up a few scaffolds of disinterest.
Around me in the fields, the hogs grunted
And lay on their sides.
– Larry Levis, “The Map”
Watch Larry Levis read some of his work:
“Two Poems: A Reading by Larry Levis” | Blackbird v13n2 | #gallery
Larry Levis reads two poems-“Elegy with a Thimbleful of Water in the Cage” and “Poem Ending with a Hotel on Fire”-in an unknown location around 1995.
Vintage poster of Philip Levine’s reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.
I bend to the ground
to catch
something whispered,
urgent, drifting
across the ditches.
The heaviness of
flies stuttering
in orbit, dirt
ripening, the sweat
of eggs.
– Philip Levine, “Noon”
Listen to Philip Levine read from his work for the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Lectures:
She packs the flower beds with leaves,
Rags, dampened paper, ties with twine
The lemon tree, but winter carves
Its features on the uprooted stem.
– Philip Levine, “For Fran”
Read this interview with Philip Levine from the Paris Review:
The Art of Poetry No. 39
Photograph by Frances Levine I was first introduced to Philip Levine through the mail in the summer of 1976. I was studying literature at Berkeley, and my friends and I, all college freshmen and sophomores, were ardent readers of Levine, W. S. Merwin, Donald Justice, Gary Snyder, and Hart C…
Vintage poster of Denise Levertov’s 1984 reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.
in white pulp: the bones of squid
which I pull out and lay
blade by blade on the draining board–
tapered as if for swiftness, to pierce
the heart, but fragile, substance
belying design…
– Denise Levertov, “Pleasures”
Listen to an interview with Denise Levertov:
92Y/The Paris Review Interview Series: Denise Levertov with Deborah Digges
Subscribe for more videos like this: http://youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=92Yplus This conversation between Deborah Digges and Denise Levertov, part of a collaboration between 92Y’s Unterberg Poetry Center and The Paris Review, was recorded live at 92Y on April 22, 1991.
Green Snake, when I hung you round my neck
and stroked your cold, pulsing throat
as you hissed to me, glinting
arrowy gold scales, and I felt
the weight of you on my shoulders,
and the whispering silver of your dryness
sounded close at my ears–
– Denise Levertov, “To The Snake”
Watch Denise Levertov read some of her work:
Denise Levertov: six poems
Denise Levertov reads six poems from her later collections, three from EVENING TRAIN (1992) and three later included in her posthumously published collection SANDS OF THE WELL (1998). This is an extract from an hour-long reading she gave for the Lannan Foundation in Los Angeles on 7 December 1993.
Silver, the women sing of their bodies
and the men. Darker, the men sing
of their ancestors and the women.
Darkest is the children’s ambition
to sing every circle wider. Dying.
– Li-Young Lee, “Every Circle Wider”
Broadside of “Every Circle Wider” by Li-Young Lee
Listen to Li-Young Lee’s 2003 reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago:
Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.
Buy this audio recording featuring Li-Young Lee⇒
To pull the metal splinter from my palm
my father recited a story in a low voice.
I watched his lovely face and not the blade.
Before the story ended, he’d removed
the iron sliver I thought I’d die from.
– Li-Young Lee, “The Gift”
Watch this interview with Li-Young Lee from the HoCoPoLitSo:
Li-Young Lee, a conversation of poetry and consciousness
In this edition of HoCoPoLitSo’s The Writing Life, poet and host Michael Collier speaks with Li-Young Lee in 1995 about poetry, prayerful attitudes and unconscious states. Lee reads his poem “Epistle” to start off the show, which Collier says acts as a sort of prologue to his first book of poetry, “Rose.”
We are very pleased with your response
to our advertisement. The form
you found in which to couch your reply
is original and attractive.
It caught our attention immediately.
– Naomi Lazard, “Re: Accepting You”
Read an interview with Naomi Lazard from The Friday Times:
http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20120810&page=24
Catullus is my master and I mix
a little acid and a bit of honey
in his bowl love
is my subject & the lack of love
which lack is what evil a
poet must strike
– James Laughlin, “Technical Notes”
Read an interview with James Laughlin from the Paris Review:
The Art of Publishing No. 1, Part 1
James Laughlin. New Directions A frequent traveler since the thirties, James Laughlin has always returned to the family home in rural Connecticut where he runs New Directions’ affairs from Meadow House, a simple frame structure beside a pasture, where often a small flock of sh…
Last night you came into my
dreams as wild as a bird that
has flown in an open window
– James Laughlin, “The Prisoner”
Listen to James Laughlin reading his poem, “Experience of Blood:”
James Laughlin reading “Experience of Blood”
James Laughlin (1914-1997), Pittsburgh born poet and founder of New Directions books, reading the poem “Experience of Blood” in 1996. The piece reflects on the tragic death of Laughlin’s son, Robert.
folk live in ma bones
breathe ma breath
we night like skin
– Quraysh Ali Lansana, “burdens”
Broadside of “Elegy for the Unsaid” by Simone Muench, “Try” by Jennifer Grotz, and “burdens” by Quraysh Ali Lansana
Listen to an interview with Quraysh Ali Lansana from WBEZ:
Quraysh Ali Lansana talks about his work and the ‘Verse Journalism’ project
Chicago’s own Gwendolyn Brooks coined the term “verse journalism.” The idea is turning to news for poetic inspiration. Lansana talks with Afternoon Shift about his work and the series, which was recorded in collaboration with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, a station partner.
dis suit of clothes jus as empty
as a sky wid no stars
two years a workin savin money
den john drop out my heart
– Quraysh Ali Lansana, “hole”
Watch Quraysh Ali Lansana discuss his book of poems, The Walmart Republic, for the Academy of American Poets:
Quraysh Ali Lansana: The Walmart Republic
Quraysh Ali Lansana stops by the Academy of American Poets to discuss his latest book of poems, The Walmart Republic, cowritten by Christopher Stewart. *For highest quality playback, change your view settings using the gear icon to 720p HD.
Clear cedar air and
cold wind polish
tired trees of heavy
leaves. Very
predictable. But what
elements of thunder
are plastic, and
what are pain?…
– Art Lange, “A Fine Line”
Continue reading this poem in his book, A Moment’s Notice⇒
Read a music review by Art Lange:
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