"Love" by Roy Croft

The number 831 is a texting encryption of "I love you": 8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning. Never encrypt or abbreviate your love. Here is a long poem by Roy Croft on love.


LOVE

I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.


Source: The Best Loved Poems of the American People (1936), selected by Hazel Felleman

"'88' Poems" by Richard Brautigan

On this day in 1952, according to the Associated Press, "the composition 4'33" ('Four Minutes, Thirty-three Seconds') by avant-garde composer John Cage premiered in Woodstock, New York, as David Tudor sat down at a piano and, for four minutes and 33 seconds, played . . . nothing."

Here is a blank poem by Richard Brautigan that first appeared in his poetry collection Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt (1970).


"88" POEMS

Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)

To read a biography of Richard Brautigan, click here.

A poem by Emily Dickinson about a bee and a clover

Here is a short, untitled poem by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) about a bee and a clover. This poem is in the public domain. It was first published in 1896.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Emily Dickinson

American poet

"The Icehouse in Summer" by Howard Nemerov : The Poetry Foundation

"And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end," saith the Lord.  -- The Bible: Amos 3:15 (King James Version)

To read the poem "The Icehouse in Summer" by Howard Nemerov and to listen to an audio recording of Mr. Nemerov reading that poem of his, click here.

Howard Nemerov (1920-1991)

American poet 

"The Symbolic Life" by Hayan Charara : Poets.org

About his new poem "The Symbolic Life" (2017) Arab-American poet Hayan Charara says, "Apparently, ladybugs will enter houses in cold weather seeking warmth, and though they appear dead, they are hibernating. Sometimes, of course, they are just dead."

To read "The Symbolic Life" by Hayan Charara (born 1972), and to listen to an audio recording of him reading that new poem of his, click here.

"Father Son Haiku" by Kelvin River | Rattle: Poetry

When asked why he likes to write poetry, ten-year-old Kelvin River replied that he wrote his poem "Father Son Haiku" for his fifth grade homework assignment. He said that he likes "making stuff, and using words to make stuff is really interesting and fun." To read "Father Son Haiku" by Kelvin River (age 10), click here.

"Sumter" by Jenn Blair | Rattle: Poetry

Winner of Prize Americana, the collection of poems Malcontent (Press Americana, 2017) by American poet Jenn Blair takes the reader on a journey through American history that is at once fresh, startling and epic in its sweep. To read Jenn Blair's poem "Sumter," one of the poems in Malcontent, click here.

To read more about Malcontent by Jenn Blair and to buy a copy of it, click here.

"The Work of the Holy Spirit": A Poem of Jesus Christ

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
A Poem of Jesus Christ
from the Bible: John 16:4-15 (King James Version)

And these things I told not unto you at the beginning,
Because I was with you.
But now I go my way to him that sent me;
And none of you asketh me,
"Whither goest thou?"
But because I have said these things unto you,
Sorrow hath filled your heart.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth;
It is expedient for you that I go away:
For if I go not away,
The Comforter will not come unto you;
But if I depart,
I will send him unto you.
And when he is come,
He will reprove the world of sin,
And of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father,
And ye see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

I have yet many things to say unto you,
But ye cannot hear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will guide you into all truth:
For he shall not speak of himself;
But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
And he will show you things to come.
He shall glorify me:
For he shall receive of mine,
And shall show it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are mine:
Therefore said I,
That he shall take of mine,
And shall show it unto you.

An untitled poem by Emily Dickinson about an eclipse

     In her poetic and scientifically illuminating 19th-century guide to viewing a total solar eclipse Mabel Loomis Todd wrote:

A vast, palpable presence seems overwhelming the world. The blue sky changes to gray or dull purple, speedily becoming more dusky, and a death-like trance seizes upon everything earthly.

To read "What to Look for During a Total Solar Eclipse: Mabel Loomis Todd's Poetic 19th-Century Guide to Totality, with Help from Emily Dickinson" by Maria Popova, the founder of Brain Pickings, click here.
     The following is an untitled poem by Emily Dickinson that, as Maria Popova wrote in her aforementioned article, "captures the scintillating surreality of an eclipse in eight perfect lines":

     It sounded as if the Streets were running
     And then -- the Streets stood still --
     Eclipse -- was all we could see at the Window
     And Awe -- was all we could feel.

     By and by -- the boldest stole out of his Covert
     To see if Time was there --
     Nature was in an Opal Apron,
     Mixing fresher Air.

Emily Dickinson

"August" by Celia Thaxter

Here is a short poem, by American writer Celia Thaxter, that is good for children.


AUGUST

Buttercup nodded and said good-by,
   Clover and daisy went off together,
But the fragrant water lilies lie
   Yet moored in the golden August weather.

The swallows chatter about their flight,
   The cricket chirps like a rare good fellow,
The asters twinkle in clusters bright,
   While the corn grows ripe and the apples mellow.


Source: Favorite Poems Old and New (1957), selected for boys and girls by Helen Ferris

Celia Thaxter (1835-1894)

American writer of stories and poems

"A Bird came down the Walk -- " by Emily Dickinson | Jordan Harling Reads

Found poem from "Findings" by Rafil Kroll-Zaidi : Harper's Magazine

Here is a piece of prose that I have formatted as an untitled poem. It is a found poem from "Findings" by Rafil Kroll-Zaidi on page 96 of the September 2017 issue of Harper's Magazine. Rafil Kroll-Zaidi is a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine (Harpers.org).

A snake was seen
regurgitating another snake,
a great horned owl was seen
swimming in a lake,
a mole was found
inside a bass,
and it remained unclear
why bonnethead sharks eat grass.


To read more about the bonnethead shark, click here.

"August 12 in the Nebraska Sand Hills Watching the Perseids Meteor Shower" by Twyla Hansen : Poetry Foundation

The Perseid meteors arrive tonight, but a bright Moon will interfere with good viewing. To read the poem "August 12 in the Nebraska Sand Hills Watching the Perseids Meteor Shower" by American poet Twyla Hansen, click here.

Twyla Hansen 

Poem from Walden by Henry David Thoreau

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau's Walden; or, Life in the Woods, in which Thoreau described his experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts, was first published. Here is a poem that Thoreau wrote and that he included in that book.

It is no dream of mine,
To ornament a line;
I cannot come nearer to God and Heaven
Than I live to Walden even.
I am its stony shore,
And the breeze that passes o'er;
In the hollow of my hand
Are its water and its sand,
And its deepest resort
Lies high in my thought.

Original title page of Walden featuring a picture

drawn by Thoreau's sister Sophia

To read more about Walden by Henry David Thoreau, click here. 

"Sincerely, the Sky" by David Hernandez : Verse Daily

"Yes, I see you down there / looking up into my vastness." So begins American poet and novelist David Hernandez's poem "Sincerely, the Sky." It is one of the poems in his book Dear, Sincerely (Pitt Poetry Series, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016). To read that poem in its entirety, click here.

David Hernandez (born 1971)

"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" by Kenneth Grahame

On this day in 1967, according to the Associated Press, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the first Pink Floyd album, was released in the United Kingdom on the Columbia label." The album's title refers to the god Pan as depicted in the book The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame.

"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"

Illustration by Paul Bransom

"The Willow-Wren was twittering his thin little song, hidden himself in the dark selvedge of the river bank." So begins "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," Chapter 7 of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. To read that chapter in its entirety, click here.

To read more about the Pink Floyd album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, click here.

Poem by Emily Dickinson about a summer shower

Here is an untitled poem that American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) wrote about a summer shower. This poem is in the public domain. It was first published in 1890.


A Drop fell on the Apple Tree --
Another -- on the Roof --
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves --
And made the Gables laugh --

A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea --
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls --
What Necklaces could be --

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads --
The Birds jocoser sung --
The Sunshine threw his Hat away --
The Bushes -- spangles flung --

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes --
And bathed them in the Glee --
Then Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the Fete away --

Emily Dickinson

"The Rain" by W. H. Davies

The Welsh-born William Henry Davies (1871-1940) wrote Wordsworthian nature poems but was more remarkable for the fact that, until he was over thirty, he was a hobo and peddler by choice, the subject of his Autobiography of a Super-tramp (1908). Here is one of the nature poems that he wrote.


THE RAIN
by W. H. Davies

I hear leaves drinking rain;
   I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
   Drop after drop;
'Tis a sweet noise to hear
These green leaves drinking near.

And when the Sun comes out,
   After this Rain shall stop,
A wondrous Light will fill
   Each dark, round drop;
I hope the Sun shines bright;
'Twill be a lovely sight.

W. H. Davies

Untitled poem by James Baldwin (1924-1987) : The Poetry Foundation

"Lord, / when you send the rain / think about it, please, / a little?" So begins an untitled poem by American writer James Baldwin, who was born on this day in 1924. To read that poem in its entirety, click here.

American Tanka, Issue 28 (final issue): "always ready to fly"

Check out the final issue -- Issue 28: "always ready to fly" -- of American Tanka, "Poetry in the Moment," edited by Laura Maffei. To read the 17 poems in that issue, click here.

"Trees" by Joyce Kilmer : Poetry Magazine

On this day in 1913, the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer was first published in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. To read that poem, which is good for children, click here.