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1) Women Who Love Angels
2. Judith Ortiz Cofer
3. https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/women-who-love-angels/

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1. It Isn't Me
2. James Lasdun
3. https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/it-isnt-me/

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By James Lasdun

It isn't me, he'd say,

stepping out of a landscape

that offered, he'd thought, the backdrop

to a plausible existence

until he entered it; it's just not me,

he'd murmur, walking away.

It's not quite me, he'd explain,

apologetic but firm,

leaving some job they'd found him.

They found him others: he'd go,

smiling his smile, putting

his best foot forward, till again

he'd find himself reluctantly concluding

that this, too, wasn't him.

He wanted to get married, make a home,

unfold a life among his neighbors' lives,

branching and blossoming like a tree,

but when it came to it, it isn't me

was all he seemed to learn

from all his diligent forays outward.

And why it should be so hard

for someone not so different from themselves,

to find what they'd found, barely even seeking;

what gift he'd not been given, what forlorn

charm of his they'd had the luck to lack,

puzzled them-though not unduly:

they lived inside their lives so fully

they couldn't, in the end, believe in him,

except as some half-legendary figure

destined, or doomed, to carry on his back

the weight of their own all-but-weightless, stray

doubts and discomforts. Only sometimes,

alone in offices or living rooms,

they'd hear that phrase again: it isn't me,

and wonder, briefly, what they were, and where,

and feel the strangeness of being there.

Source: Poetry (December 2009)

Living

Social Commentaries

Poet Bio

Originally from London, James Lasdun has received numerous awards for his work as a poet, novelist, and screenwriter. In his poetry, Lasdun explores the differences between his English roots and his adopted American home, often setting his poems in wild rural landscapes or barely tamed domestic interiors. Though written in free verse, his poetry can feel formal in its use of rhyme and cadence. He has taught at many universities including Columbia University, Princeton University, and the New School. He currently lives with his family in upstate New York. See More By This Poet

More Poems about Living

Dragons

We gathered in a field southwest of town,
several hundred hauling coolers
and folding chairs along a gravel road
dry in August, two ruts of soft dust
that soaked into our clothes
and rose in plumes behind us.

By noon we could discern their massive coils
emerging...

By Devin Johnston

How to Triumph Like a Girl

I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let's be honest,...

By Ada Limón

Browse poems about Living
More Poems about Social Commentaries

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved...

By John McCrae

The Glories of Our Blood and State

The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal...

By James Shirley

Browse poems about Social Commentaries

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It isn't me, he'd say,stepping out of a landscapethat offered, he'd thought, the backdropto a plausible existenceuntil he entered it; it's just not me,he'd murmur, walking away.It's not quite me, he'd explain,apologetic but firm,leaving some job they'd found him.They found...

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1. Acquainted with the Night
2. Robert Frost
3. https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/acquainted-with-the-night/

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1. Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening.
2. Robert Frost
3. https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening/

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I come home,
feet about to bleed
from angry stomping.
"Boy!" says Mom.
"Quit making all that racket."
But what does she expect
when, day after day,
haters sling words at me
like jagged stones
designed to split my skin?
I retreat to my room,
collapse on the bed,
count, "One. Two....

By Nikki Grimes

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening | Poetry Out Loud

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Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods...

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Valerio Pistelli :                                                           Work Without Hope      

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Valerio Pistelli :                                                           Work Without Hope      

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2) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/work-without-hope/

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We thought the birds were singing louder. We were almost certain they
were. We spoke of this, when we spoke, if we spoke, on our zoom screens
or in the backyard with our podfolk. Dang, you hear those birds? Don't
they sound loud?...

By Beth Ann Fennelly

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All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair-The bees are stirring-birds are on the wing-And Winter slumbering in the open air,Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!And I the while, the sole unbusy thing,Nor honey make, nor...

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Acquainted with the night

Robert Frost

https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/acquainted-with-the-night/

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Acquainted with the Night | Poetry Out Loud

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I have been one acquainted with the night.I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.I have outwalked the furthest city light.I have looked down the saddest city lane.I have passed by the watchman on his beatAnd dropped my eyes,…

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1.The Ocean
2.Nathaniel Hawthorne
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/the-ocean/

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We've always been out looking for answers,
telling stories about ourselves,
searching for connection, choosing
to send out Stravinsky and whale song,
which, in translation, might very well be
our undoing instead of a welcome.

We launch satellites, probes, telescopes
unfolding like origami, navigating
geomagnetic storms, major disruptions.
Rovers...

By Diane Thiel

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The Ocean has its silent caves,Deep, quiet, and alone;Though there be fury on the waves,Beneath them there is none.The awful spirits of the deepHold their communion there;And there are those for whom we weep,The young, the bright, the fair.Calmly the...

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1. The Road Not Taken
2. Robert Frost
3.https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/the-road-not-taken/

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1. Echo
2. Daryl Hine
3.https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/echo/

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In
Andrew Hudgins
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/in/#random_poem

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1. Across the Bay
2.  Donald Davie
3. Across the Bay | Poetry Out Loud

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1. End of Summer
2. Stanley Kunitz
3.https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/end-of-summer/

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1. Prints
2. Joseph Bruchac
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/prints/

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1) History of Sleep
2) Rusty Morrison
3)https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/history-of-sleep/

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The ivy across our back fence tangles grayinto a green evening light.How a second emptinessun-punctuates the first.Disloyal,we attempt to construct.An ache will tightenbut not form.Making impossibleeven this upsurge of crows across our sightline.The Mayans invented zero so as not to...

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1)Israfel
2) Edgar Allan Poe
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/israfel/

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In Heaven a spirit doth dwell “Whose heart-strings are a lute”; None sing so wildly wellAs the angel Israfel,And the giddy stars (so legends tell), Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell Of his voice, all mute.Tottering above In her highest noon, The enamoured moonBlushes with love,…

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1)The war in the Air
2)Howard Nemerov
3)https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/the-war-in-the-air/

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For a saving grace, we didn’t see our dead,Who rarely bothered coming home to dieBut simply stayed away out thereIn the clean war, the war in the air.Seldom the ghosts come back bearing their talesOf hitting the earth, the incompressible...

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1) It Couldn’t Be Done
2) Edgar Albert Guest
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/it-couldnt-be-done/

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1) The Arrow and the Song
2) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/the-arrow-and-the-song/

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1) On the Death of Anne Bronte
2) Charlotte Bronte
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/on-the-death-of-anne-bront/

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Lenton Song
By Phillis Levin
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/lenten-song/#random_poem

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I know this is a real thing, because
When I was a kid, my big sister took me
To the Capitol Theater, in my hometown
Of Rochester, NY,

And there was a movie that afternoon,
The Tingler, which starred Vincent Price,
And what I remember best...

By Cornelius Eady

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That the dead are real to usCannot be denied, That the living are more realWhen they are deadTerrifies, that the dead can riseAs the living do is possibleIs possible to surmise, But all the stars cannot come nearAll we meet...

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Dreams
By: Siegfried Sassoon
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/dreamers/

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You've heard me, scornful, harsh, and discontented,
Mocking and loathing War: you've asked me why
Of my old, silly sweetness I've repented-
My ecstasies changed to an ugly cry.

You are aware that once I sought the Grail,
Riding in armour bright,...

By Siegfried Sassoon

Living

Mythology & Folklore

Social Commentaries

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Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land,Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows. In the great hour of destiny they stand,Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows. Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.Soldiers are...

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2) Li Bai
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/the-jewel-stairs-grievance/#random_poem

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The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance | Poetry Out Loud

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The jewelled steps are already quite white with dew,It is so late that the dew soaks my gauze stockings,And I let down the crystal curtainAnd watch the moon through the clear autumn.

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A Graveyard
By: Marianne Moore

https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/a-graveyard/

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We thought the birds were singing louder. We were almost certain they
were. We spoke of this, when we spoke, if we spoke, on our zoom screens
or in the backyard with our podfolk. Dang, you hear those birds? Don't
they sound loud?...

By Beth Ann Fennelly

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Man, looking into the sea- taking the view from those who have as much right to it as you have it to yourself- it is human nature to stand in the middle of a thing but you cannot stand in...

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Ways of Talking
Ha Jin
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/ways-of-talking/

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Grain Memory

A wishbone branch falls
from my Grandma Thelma's oak
for me.

What do you know about magic? e1 asks.

E bends e old body down, turns
the wishbone branch into
a cross, places it around my neck.
I am strapped at the Black River's right shoulder,
remembering my...

By Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul

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We used to like talking about griefOur journals and letters were packedwith losses, complaints, and sorrows.Even if there was no griefwe wouldn't stop lamentingas though longing for the charmof a distressed face.Then we couldn't help expressing griefSo many things descended...

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My Papa's Waltz, Theodore Roethke

https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/my-papas-waltz/#random_poem

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I know this is a real thing, because
When I was a kid, my big sister took me
To the Capitol Theater, in my hometown
Of Rochester, NY,

And there was a movie that afternoon,
The Tingler, which starred Vincent Price,
And what I remember best...

By Cornelius Eady

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The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy.We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself.The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one...

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Fire and Ice
RObert Frost
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/fire-and-ice/

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The earth said
remember me.
The earth said
don't let go,

said it one day
when I was
accidentally
listening, I

heard it, I felt it
like temperature,
all said in a
whisper-build to-

morrow, make right be-
fall, you are not
free, other scenes
are not taking

place, time is not filled,
time is not late,...

By Jorie Graham

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Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I've tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also...

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The Kiss
By: Robert Graves

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Are you shaken, are you stirred By a whisper of love, Spellbound to a word Does Time cease to move, Till her calm grey eye Expands to a sky And the clouds of her hair Like...

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1. Invictus
2. William Ernest Henley
3.https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/invictus/

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Wake up, greet the sun, and pray.
Burn cedar, sweet grass, sage-
sacred herbs to honor the lives we've been given,
for we have been gifted these ways since the beginning of time.
Remember, when you step into the arena of your life,
think about...

By Tanaya Winder

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Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole,I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody,...

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1) to have without holding
2) marge piercy
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/to-have-without-holding/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
still, living like they orbit one another,
my grandfather, the planet, & grandma, his moon assigned
by some gravitational pull. they have loved long enough
for a working man to retire. grandma says she's not tired,

she...

By Kara Jackson

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To have without holding | Poetry Out Loud

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning to love differently is hard,love with the hands wide open, lovewith the doors banging on their hinges,the cupboard unlocked, the windroaring and whimpering in the roomsrustling the sheets and snapping the blindsthat thwack like rubber bandsin an open palm.It...

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1. Truth is I would like to escape myself
2. Nour Al Ghraowi
3.https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/truth-is-i-would-like-to-escape-myself/

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1)Catch a Little Rhyme
2)Eve Merriam
https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/catch-a-little-rhyme/

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I will tell you why she rarely ventured from her house.
It happened like this:

One day she took the train to Boston,
made her way to the darkened room,
put her name down in cursive script
and waited her turn.

When they read her name...

By Dan Vera

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Once upon a timeI caught a little rhymeI set it on the floorbut it ran right out the doorI chased it on my bicyclebut it melted to an icicleI scooped it up in my hatbut it turned into a catI...

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1) The well Rising
2) William E. Stafford
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/the-well-rising/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The well rising without sound,the spring on a hillside,the plowshare brimming through deep groundeverywhere in the field—The sharp swallows in their swerveflaring and hesitatinghunting for the final curvecoming closer and closer—The swallow heart from wingbeat to wingbeatcounseling decision, decisio…

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1) Name of Poem
2) Name of Poet
3) Link to Poem on POL

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1) After the Winter
2) Claude McKay
3) https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/after-the-winter/