"A Poem on Anger" from the Bible

A POEM ON ANGER
from the Bible: Proverbs 15:18, 16:32 (King James Version)

A wrathful man stirreth up strife:
But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

"The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter" by Mark Strand

Read this poem, and listen to a recording of Mark Strand reading it: The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter by Mark Strand

Mark Strand (1934-2014)

American poet;
U.S. poet laureate (1990-91)

A quotation from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman

A quotation from Section 24 of "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman:

Whoever degrades another degrades me,
And whatever is done or said returns at last to me.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

American poet

"Finding a Box of Family Letters" by Dana Gioia

Read this poem by an American poet: Finding a Box of Family Letters by Dana Gioia

"I Want to Read at the White House" by Joshua Clover - PoetryNow

Listen to I Want to Read at the White House - PoetryNow: For the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, Joshua Clover offers to read poetry at the White House. Produced by Katie Klocksin.

"A Prayer for Help in Trouble": A Psalm of David

A PRAYER FOR HELP IN TROUBLE
A Psalm of David
from the Bible: Psalm 13 (King James Version)

How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God:
Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest mine enemy say, "I have prevailed against him";
And those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But I have trusted in thy mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
I will sing unto the Lord,
Because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

"Stravinsky in L.A." by Elizabeth Alexander : Poetry Magazine

Read the poem Stravinsky in L.A. by Elizabeth Alexander, and listen to a recording of American poet Elizabeth Alexander reading that poem of hers.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Russian-born American composer

"Snow" by Frederick Seidel : Poetry Magazine

Read this short poem, and listen to a recording of Frederick Seidel reading it: Snow by Frederick Seidel

"I Sit and Sew" by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem I Sit and Sew by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson: I sit and sew—a useless task it seems, / [ . . . ]

Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson (1875-1935)

American writer

A Special Prayer for the New Year

     "O Thou, who art ever the same, grant us so to pass through the coming year with faithful hearts, that we may be able in all things to please Thy loving eyes. Amen." -- Mozarabic, A.D. 700

Source: A Pocket Prayer Book and Devotional Guide (Nashville, Tenn.: The Upper Room, 1941), compiled by Ralph Spalding Cushman