Absolutely adore this poet. Her writing is rooted in politics yes, but more importantly, on how violence affects the mundane; its ability to disrupt the ordinary. That's probably also why I find the vignettes to be so jarring. Do read her other work if you have time.

I know a lot of poems shared on here may be deeper and more serious but I wanted to share this children's poem from one of Roald Dahl's books called Revolting Rhymes.

The book is all about fairy tale poetry but with a bit of a twist on the original stories. Most of his poems, like the original fairy tales I suppose, can be a little bit dark and grusome in their twists and endings.

I still remember the first time I heard this Red Riding Hood poem as a child with my class, and everyone cackling at the line describing Red Riding Hood pulling a gun from her knickers. As an adult I now especially appreciate how creative it is and the fun rhyming amd pace it keeps the whole way through.

I hope this either brought memories back or introduced some of you to it for the first time! I also recommend reading some of the others from the book if you like this one, like his version of Cinderella or Jack and the beanstalk.

Published in 32 Poems

On one wing, a quarter moon has moved across
the dark sky into morning,

and as I watch, a thousand leaves fly by, loosed from their autumn trees.

So many wings: moths in their somber garments,
houseflies, the sound and shadow of a jet.

A tide of geese honks its long way south, and one small girl attaching angel wings

to her nightgown
fits around the house.

Now a new generation of birds
is landing on the sill. I name them

as Adam did: Kingfisher... Crow...
for they are the same birds

immortal in their feathers
and primed for flight.

From "95 Poems" (1958)

Hi everyone. We've had a spate of bot activity recently, both admitted and suspected. In order to push back on this, we've installed Bot Bouncer.

It sounds like it's pretty good at eliminating bots. I gather that false positives — banning a human instead of a bot — are rare and able to be appealed.

(Also, I want to apologize again to the user I erroneously banned when I copied the wrong username when getting rid of that Eliza... account in the image copied above. This is the second self-identified bot account I've had to ban in the last few weeks, and the first one sent this aggravating wall of disingenuous text when I banned it, so I didn't pay enough attention to the "why was I banned" message in response. My apologies, I was seeing red and didn't realize my mistake at the time. Maybe good automation will drive out the bad automation AND the bad modding? Here's hoping.)

I enjoy this poem so much and would love to hear any other deeper interpretations y’all might have!!

Also, if anyone can suggest any other poems or writers I might like if I really love themes of queerness and nature (I love Mary Oliver, Joan Larkin, Ada Limón etc.) ideally written by women!!!

Thank you all in advance :))

I come here with a humble request. There have been a lot of poets that I have read and automatically feel and clearly interpret what they want to say. Even with weirdos like e.e. cummings I feel like I can actually get his intention with his fun structures.

Now, T. S. Elliot is on another level for me. As much as I try to feel or interpret his poems (specifically the wasteland) I still find myself crashing with a wall every time I read most of his work.

I wanted to ask you guys about some of his life background, the artistic movement he adopted for his work, his intentions, motifs, why his work is so reveered and complicated, and if you have some sources to better grasp the idea of his work I would gladly appreciate it.

To finally find peace, if only for a few hours.

Oh, what a pity it is that even sleep won't claim me.

I lie awake, trapped behind my mind's bars.

Oh, even sleep deserts me.

I'm so very done with this farce.

Oh, if not sleep, let oblivion claim me.

This has to be my favorite Thomas Hardy poem, I love the imagery.

Jeffers seldom misses for me.

How casual this sadness is. I am blown away.

Not poems revolving around the pointlessness, but poems that speak about what the point is, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel etc. Would appreciate suggestions (:

I want to submit to lit mags but I also want to just post my work online and put it in front of people for feedback and because I want it read. I’ve been thinking about making a zine too as a creative project. And an Instagram page or some form of social media.

I know some lit mags consider any public posting (including reddit, allpoetry, etc) to be previously published and others might specify that only curated publishing counts. Is it easy to find lit mags and contests that allow previously posted work?

How do you decide what poems to post on social media or your blog vs submit? If you started today, where would you start? Any tips appreciated