Today’s “Other People’s Words” is a poem about what’s really important. It’s called “Beside the Point” by Stephen Cushman. The sky has never won a prize. The clouds have no careers. The rainbow doesn’t say my work, thank goodness. The rock in the creek’s not so productive. The mud on the bank’s not too pragmatic. […]

On today’s “Other People’s Words,” “I Used to Be but Now I Am” by Ted Berrigan. I’m not sure I can pin down what exactly it is that I like about the poem, but I just know that I like it. I used to be inexorable, But now I am elusive. I used to be […]

Today’s “Other People’s Words” is a poem about, well, “The Necessary Brevity of Pleasures.” It’s by Samuel Hazo. Prolonged, they slacken into pain   or sadness in accordance with the law   of apples.           One apple satisfies. Two apples cloy.                   Three apples   glut.       Call it a tug-of-war between enough and more   than enough, between sufficiency   and greed, […]

On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a poem by Cheryl Denise about the feeling that society desires conformity above all else. And about maybe leaving it behind. “They’ll” take your soul and put it in a suit, fit you in boxes under labels, make you look like the Joneses. They’ll tell you go a little blonder, […]

On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a poem about people, places, and distance. Debra Gingrich’s “To My Yugoslavian In-Laws” is about all that we have in common, and a few of the things we don’t. If we could speak, I would tell you that we have trees here too, and rivers. I know how to hammer […]