Morning Meditation

Quiet damned soul
From which I speak!
Quit talking gibberish
To the stones and trees
And no more questions, please!

I Am Not Trayvon

He too is not Trayvon.

I am not Trayvon
I have never owned a hoodie
I don't like Skittles
I am not an African-American

I am not Zimmerman
I have never felt the need to patrol a block
I don't like guns
I am not Hispanic

Easter 1916

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Anna Maria

Anna Maria by the sea.

A name
is written with a sea shell
on the back of your thigh
as gulls cry overhead

Northern skin
pass upon your lips
as a thousand miles of memories
touch down upon your shore

30 Days...30 Poets

On April 1, the Academy of American Poets will kick off its 2nd annual celebration of "30 Days, 30 Poets" for National Poetry Month. This April, 30 dynamic poets will take over curation of the Academy's Tumblr. Each featured poet will have 24 hours to post an array of ephemera—in the form of text, images, audio, and video—before passing the baton. The Tumblr takeover follows 2011's lauded "30 Days, 30 Poets" on the Academy's Twitter feed.