Poetry | Women's Voices For Change

Poetry Sunday: ‘Bright Stain,’ by Francesca Bell

By Rebecca Foust

My poems “Revision” and “Definitions” were both written out of a need to grapple with my experience of being trapped and defined by my female body—by the physical, biological, often excruciating facts of it—in a way that men are spared.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“For the Young Men Who Died of AIDS,”
by Julia Vinograd

By Rebecca Foust

Among the many powerful poems written about AIDS, I find this one especially moving. I like that it is written in plainspoken diction, in free verse, qualities that support its agonized and heartfelt utterance.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: Linda Gregg Tribute

By Rebecca Foust

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “An Old Story," by Tracy K. Smith

By Rebecca Foust

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“Bamboo, the Dance,” by Marilyn Chin

By Susan Cohen

Marilyn Chin, who was born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, Oregon, has spent a 30-year career fusing cultures, exploring how her ancestry meets her personal, political, and poetic life.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Conservatory,” by Idris Anderson

By Rebecca Foust

. . . That’s an effective strategy, choosing a title that multiplies associations in the reader’s mind even before the poem is read. It makes me curious to see where Anderson will go from here: Will the poem involve any of these things, or instead, play off of my expectations and surprise me?

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“Elegy with Civil War Shadowbox,”
by Jane Satterfield

By Rebecca Foust

“Elegy with Civil War Shadowbox” is a meditation on the challenges of memorializing war.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“For Jane,” by Joan Baranow

By Rebecca Foust

This is a sad poem, readers, but one that offers its own comfort, something we need now more than ever.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Dear March – Come in”
by Emily Dickinson

By Rebecca Foust

March is an important harbinger of seasonal change and new life. I hope this sweet poem will blow into your day like a gust of wind, chilly and wet, but also with a promise of spring coming soon.

Poetry

Claudia Rankine: “Some years there exists a wanting to escape…”

By Rebecca Foust

The first time I read "Citizen," I kept putting it down. At some point, though, it occurred to me that some readers never, ever get to put that book down. So, I finished it, read it again, then did some thinking about why I initially found it hard to read.

Poetry

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911): “The Slave Mother,” “On Learning to Read,” and “Bury Me in a Free Land”

By Rebecca Foust

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Chocolate,” by Rita Dove

By Rebecca Foust

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” by Phillis Wheatley

By Rebecca Foust

Poetry

Raquel Vasquez Gilliland:
“The Tale of the Earth” and “The Tale of Spice”

By Rebecca Foust

Today’s poems are from a new chapbook called "Tales from the House of Vasquez," winner of the 2018 Rattle Chapbook Prize, and they are representative of the book as a whole: 14 spare, free-verse poems about motherhood, feminism, family, and origin.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Whosoever Holds This Hammer,”
by Dawn Manning

By Rebecca Foust

By the end of the poem the speaker wholly identifies with Thor, capable of destruction as well as creation and blessing, and the poem ends in a place of tremendous raw power and confidence with her joyfully striking the flat glowing disc of her “own sun.” What a wonderful affirmation of the act of creativity!

Women's Voices For Change

Articles onPoetry

Poetry Sunday: ‘Bright Stain,’ by Francesca Bell

Poetry Sunday:
“For the Young Men Who Died of AIDS,”
by Julia Vinograd

Poetry Sunday: Linda Gregg Tribute

Poetry Sunday: “An Old Story," by Tracy K. Smith

Poetry Sunday:
“Bamboo, the Dance,” by Marilyn Chin

Poetry Sunday: “Conservatory,” by Idris Anderson

Poetry Sunday:
“Elegy with Civil War Shadowbox,”
by Jane Satterfield

Poetry Sunday:
“For Jane,” by Joan Baranow

Poetry Sunday: “Dear March – Come in”
by Emily Dickinson

Claudia Rankine: “Some years there exists a wanting to escape…”

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911): “The Slave Mother,” “On Learning to Read,” and “Bury Me in a Free Land”

Poetry Sunday: “Chocolate,” by Rita Dove

Poetry Sunday: “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” by Phillis Wheatley

Raquel Vasquez Gilliland:
“The Tale of the Earth” and “The Tale of Spice”

Poetry Sunday: “Whosoever Holds This Hammer,”
by Dawn Manning

Home