At first the poem "The Cup" came in response to an assignment I gave myself:  try for 14 lines and a single domestic image.  Obviously I didn't make it!  But focusing on the cup let me channel the narrative drive of the poem.  Originally it was only about how the cup smashed, the pieces of the event all squashed into 14 lines. MORE

Here's a confession: the first time I read Ted Berrigan's The Sonnets, I just thought the guy was lazy, reusing all the good lines to get more book out of the book. It reminded me of what someone said about pantoums, twice the poem at half the price. Forgive me, I was young! MORE

You ask me to pick five records to take with me to a desert isle. Okay. Here's how I would attack the problem. My analytical intelligence takes over. I make categories and then sub-categories. On the baker's dozen principle, six equals five when that's what the dice show. And then I start making lists! MORE

Can you name that poet? The answers are at the bottom, but here are the names of those included - try to match them before you reach the end! And enjoy!

Amy Clampitt, Billy Collins, Louise Glück, Jorie Graham, Kimiko Hahn, Matthea Harvey, Richard Howard, Vincent Katz, Maxine Kumin, Elizabeth Macklin,  Marianne Moore, Mary Oliver, Spencer Reece, Hugh Seidman, Vijay Seshadri, and Mark Strand. MORE

Here it is, the first installment of When They Were Very Young, a special section of the exhibit, Portraits of Poets 1910-2010, now open at the National Arts Club.

In order to help you guess who's who, here is a list of the poets:  Henri Cole, Alfred Corn, Douglas Crase, Juan Felipe Herrera, Galway Kinnell,  Kenneth Koch, Phillis Levin, Heather McHugh, Ron Padgett, Robert Pinsky, Kay Ryan, and Rosanna Warren. MORE

The spring, 2010 "Poems & Pints" series, co-hosted at The Fraunces Tavern, New York's oldest, by the Poetry Society of America, the nation's oldest poetry organization, and the dynamic Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, launched last night with a reading by Terese Svoboda and Molly Peacock. MORE

New York Magazine recently listed the top 35 reasons to love NYC, and our name landed at #21! Check out the article to see just how passionate about poetry we are, and consider making a donation to show YOUR support of poetry. Help keep our programs (and poems!) in motion! MORE