Our poet, born in 1861, never married and never had children, but she was able to express a mother’s love in this charming poem where aging is reversed by memory.

Anyone who has found sadly lacking the term “able” will love collection of poems and companion essays, all by and addressing the lives of the nearly 50 million Americans with disabilities.

Every once in a while we meet someone who so clearly grasps the challenges of life that it takes our breath away. This poem from Catherine McGuire—both a personal and a universal portrait of the struggle women have faced in the past and still face today—brings just such a breath-stealing moment.

This past week, Tracy K. Smith recalibrated the height of the bar for redefining a life. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in recognition of her collection, “Life on Mars.”

This week, blogs explored gazillions of dresses, interviewed a fair-pay heroine, and re-introduced Beat Generation goddess Diane di Prima.

We’d like to share with you this loving tribute to the late Adrienne Rich by WVFC’s own Carol Muske-Dukes, Rich’s friend and former Poet Laureate of California. It appears in today’s Los Angeles Times.

Poems comfort. They challenge, they confirm, they affirm, they soar and burn. What’s more, poems bring people together. So you might want to observe the day.

Yesterday would have been Billie Holiday’s 97th birthday. Most of us know something of her short life and long legacy, but it may come as a surprise that she wrote songs as well as she sang them.

She was never caged inside the definitions society pins on the famous, but, ironically, Adrienne Rich was the canary in the coal mine of her times.

Here is the second part of our musing on the poets—in no particular order—who have made their mark on women’s history in our nation.

By Women’s Voices for Change

As always, “Great American Poets” is quite a joyful topic to contemplate, just as each of these poets is a treat to read and an honor to call a fellow countrywoman.

Kara Dorris wrote in American Literary Review: ” Laura Kasischke’s eighth book of poetry…carries us into a world that is tangible and temporal, devastating and gratifying.”

By Diane Vacca

The film derives its power from three women—the director, whose vision harmonized diverse elements; the strong leading actress; and the subject, South African poet Ingrid Jonker.

This week, bloggers wrapped up Fashion Week coverage, welcomed a new strong woman to cable news, and reflected on how just seven words can change your life if they come from a famous poet.

Anna Akhmatova lived in another place and another time. What is timeless about her and her poetry is her dedication to the true thing. She possessed, and described with lucid awareness, what actually was.