In The News

We live in a world where access to breaking news is available 24/7. But how often do we go beyond the headline? What happened next? What was the impact on our fellow humans across the globe? Can we learn? Can we change? Can we make a difference? We invite the world to read these poems and start a conversation—perhaps one that is way overdue.

Contributing Poets from Around the Globe:

Alan Catlin • Anita S. Pulier • Anne Casey • Bett Willett • Brad G. Garber • Brian Garrison • Brigitte Goetze • Brittney Corrigan • Carolyn Martin • Cathy Cain • Charissa Menefee • Charles Rammelkamp • Charlotte Mandel • Christopher Luna • Christopher Stolle • Claudine Nash • Colette Tennant • D.R. James • dan raphael • Daniela Gioseffi • David Belmont • David Lawton • Deborah Jang • Dianalee Velie • Dotty LeMieux • Ed Mabrey • Eleanor Berry • Eleanor Kedney • Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Vrenios • Elizabeth Kuelbs • Emily Madapusi Pera • Eric le Fatte • Gary Fisher • Heather Truett • Heidi B. Morrell • Ingrid Wendt • Irene Bloom • J.I. Kleinberg • Jamie Brian • Jan Ball • Jane Blanchard • Jane Yolen • JD Amick • Jeanne Julian • Jeff Fearnside • Jo Angela Edwins • Joan Colby • Joanne M. Clarkson • Judith Skillman • Judith Terzi • Judyth Hill • Julene Tripp Weaver • Junious Ward • Kathleen Patterson • Kathryn Staublin • Katy Brown • Kelly Konya • Ken Cathers • Laura LeHew • Liam Stegman • Linda C. Conroy • Linda Ferguson • Linda Kraus • Linda Strever • Lindy Low Le Coq • Louisa Clerici • Lucy Duggan • Lynn M. Knapp • Marc Swan • Marilyn Johnston • Martin Jon Porter • Maryah Converse • Matt Farr • Melanie Green • Michael H. Lester • Michael S. Glaser • Naila Claudia Schulte • Nancy Flynn • Pamela Ahlen • Pat Brisson • Pattie Palmer-Baker • Paul Bufis • Paul Genega • Pesach Rotem • Phyllis Wax • Ralph Long •  Sandy Deyoe • Sarah Lilius • Sharon Alexander • Sharon Wood Wortman • Shawn Aveningo Sanders • Sherry Chandler • Stephen C. Pollock • Steve Williams • Suzanne Bruce • T. McClelland • Tara L. Carnes • Tim Gillespie • Tom Hogan • Tracy Davidson • Tricia Knoll • Trina Sotira • Valerie Forde-Galvin • Veer Frost • Vivienne Popperl • Wendy Brown-Baez

Sample Poems:

Take a Knee
by Jane Yolen

Take mine, I give it freely,
though it’s hardly worth the bend.
Filled now with metal,
worn from years of dancing,
fencing, walking for justice,
standing on vigil lines.

Take mine if you will,
though you will find it stiff
from trudging at night
to comfort babies, grandbabies;
from watching for birds, bobcats;
Standing on podiums giving lectures.

Take mine if you can.
I may have but ten years
more use in it anyway.
If it can support justice,
bring comfort to the distraught,
help the weak walk, lead the poor to work.

Take it if it can help children run,
students cross streets,
the poor to stand tall,
pickers kneel in the field,
union men and women long on lines.
Then take my knee indeed.

On Hearing News of the Massacre Of The Children
~ After Milton’s “On the Late Massacre in the Piedmont”
by Veer Frost

To remember, not where I was
but what
a child is

Still mostly soul
in sudden hummingbird halts
and starts
toward embodiment,

And how the rambunctious light
out of a child’s skin
comes and goes
back in

As if it has two homes
and need not choose
between the springing cowslip world
and migrant heaven.

An Audio Poem from the Book:

Any Given Day
by JD Amick

The post The Poeming Pigeon: In The News appeared first on The Poetry Box.