Columns shown on the front page

• At the Edge of Town by Don Welch: American Life in Poetry #56 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  When I complained about some of the tedious jobs I had as a boy, my mother would tell me, Ted, all work is honorable.
• What We Need by Jo McDougall: American Life in Poetry #55 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  A circus is an assemblage of illusions, and here Jo McDougall, a Kansas poet, shows us a couple of performers, drab and weary in their ordinary lives, away from the lights at the center of the ring.
• Tangerine by Ruth L. Schwartz: American Life in Poetry #54 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Poet Ruth L.
• A Pot of Red Lentils by Peter Pereira: American Life in Poetry #53 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Writing poetry, reading poetry, we are invited to join with others in celebrating life, even the ordinary, daily pleasures.
• Radiator by Connie Wanek: American Life in Poetry #52 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  What a marvelous gift is the imagination, and each of us gets one at birth, free of charge and ready to start up, get on, and ride away.
• Marching by Jim Harrison: American Life in Poetry #51 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Walt Whitman's poems took in the world through a wide-angle lens, including nearly everything, but most later poets have focused much more narrowly.
• Against Lawn by Grace Bauer: American Life in Poetry #50 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Thousands of Americans fret over the appearance of their lawns, spraying, aerating, grooming, but here Grace Bauer finds good reasons to resist the impulse to tame what's wild: the white of clover blossoms under a streetlight, the possibility of finding the hidden, lucky, four-leafed rarity.
• On A Moonstruck Gravel Road by Rodney Torreson: American Life in Poetry #49 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  This fine poem by Rodney Torreson, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, looks into the world of boys arriving at the edge of manhood, and compares their natural wildness to that of dogs, with whom they feel a kinship.
• Some Boys are Born to Wander by Walter McDonald: American Life in Poetry #48 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Every parent can tell a score of tales about the difficulties of raising children, and then of the difficulties in letting go of them.
• ChatAct - A site for role playing by Kevin
  I'm excited to announce the 'beta test' version of Chatact, Allpoetry's newest sister site. It's targeted at role-players, with groups and journals being the main focus. There are contests too. Please be patient with any bugs Check it out!
• Holy Cussing by Robert Morgan: American Life in Poetry #47 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  The poet, novelist and biographer, Robert Morgan, who was raised in North Carolina, has written many intriguing poems that teach his readers about southern folklore.
• Geology by Bob King: American Life in Poetry #46 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  We constantly compare one thing with another, or attempt to, saying, "Well, you know, love is like.
• Sunday Brunch at the Old Country Buffet by Anne Caston: American Life in Poetry #45 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Poets are experts at holding mirrors to the world.
• Mongrel Heart by David Baker: American Life in Poetry #44 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Unlike the calculated expressions of feeling common to its human masters, there is nothing disingenuous about the way a dog praises, celebrates, frets or mourns.
• More updates! Poems by online users, Return the favor by Kevin
  Poems by online users has replaced rewards as the default for when you click the 'read' link. I've also cleaned up the sidebar when browsing poems, and simplified the 'add a feature' page.
  
  When making a comment, you can choose a poem of yours to ask the person to 'return the favor' by commenting. Seemed like it might make that a more social feature.
  
  Journals now autosave drafts like they should, and a few dozen other bugs have been fixed. The chatroom hopefully will lag less now as well.
• Member of the month for August 09 by All Poetry Activity Leaders, from JustSimplyLissa
  Come see who the Member of the Month is!
• To Play Pianissimo by Lola Haskins: American Life in Poetry #43 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Lola Haskins, who lives in Florida, has written a number of poems about musical terms, entitled "Adagio," "Allegrissimo," "Staccato," and so on.
• What Calls Us by David Bengtson: American Life in Poetry #42 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Here is a poem by David Bengtson, a Minnesotan, about the simple pleasure of walking through deep snow to the mailbox to see what's arrived.
• Family Album by Diane Thiel: American Life in Poetry #41 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Those photos in family albums, what do they show us about the lives of people, and what don't they tell?
• Comment Ratings, Take 3! by Kevin
  The comment rating system has been updated again. Now you can rate a comment however many stars you like - that's up to you, as it should be.
  
  The points given are based on the length, so a small (<100 letter) comment gets 1 point per star, medium gets 2 points, and long gets 3 points.
  
  Points are given by the site, based on ratings, to encourage longer and more constructive comments. Intentionally "padding" comment length is not allowed and can get you in trouble if caught.
  
  
• A Yellow Leaf by Alberto Rios: American Life in Poetry #40 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Arizonan Alberto Rios probably observed this shamel ash often, its year-round green leaves never changing.
• December Notes by Nancy McCleery: American Life in Poetry #39 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Many of us keep journals, but while doing so few of us pay much attention to selecting the most precise words, to determining their most effective order, to working with effective pauses and breath-like pacing, to presenting an engaging impression of a single, unique day.
• Changes to comment ratings by Kevin
  Comments of 100-130 characters now have a maximum rank of 3 stars. 130-200 character comments can be awarded 4 stars. 200 characters isn't really that long - just exactly as long as this paragraph is!
  
  The goal of this is to encourage people to write longer, more meaningful comments. Authors love hearing details about how you felt reading their poem. Take a second longer and write something that is useful!
  
  Edit: Added some more reasons and explanations.
• Fifteen by Leslie Monsour: American Life in Poetry #38 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  I'd guess that many women remember the risks and thrills of their first romantic encounters in much the same way California poet Leslie Monsour does in this poem.
• Site updates by Kevin
  Lingering bug from the database upgrade should be fixed, for example with addlines. The featured box now attempts to hide adult items from users who can't view them, and will display a * (star) at the end of the title if something is adult. The "chat with this user" link is back - invite your friends to chat about a poem!
• The Wind Chimes by Shirley Buettner: American Life in Poetry #37 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Painful separations, through divorce, through death, through alienation, sometimes cause us to focus on the objects around us, often invested with sentiment.
• In The Black Rock Tavern by Judith Slater: American Life in Poetry #36 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  In this poem by western New Yorker Judith Slater, we're delivered to a location infamous for brewing American stories—a bar.
• Tintype on the Pond, 1925 by J. Lorraine Brown: American Life in Poetry #35 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Massachusetts poet J.
• Dim by Jim Daniels: American Life in Poetry #34 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  In this poem by Pittsburgh resident Jim Daniels, a father struggles to heal his son’s grief after an incident at school.
• Glucose Self-Monitoring by Katy Giebenhain: American Life in Poetry #33 by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate 2004-2006, from Ted-Kooser
  Katy Giebenhain, an American living in Berlin, Germany, depicts a ritual that many diabetics undergo several times per day: testing one’s blood sugar.

Columns

• All columns
• Add a column

Sign up for FREE

A free account is required to comment and participate. It's fast and free!

Already a member?

About Allpoetry

Please Support Allpoetry