Mother Goose is a Goth: A Found Poem May 4, 2008: Concerned that there’s too much violence in children’s movies, TV, video games and online? Maybe the problem is there’s not enough. From The Annotated Mother Goose, eds. William S. Baring-Gould & Ceil Baring-Gould, Bramhall House, 1962: “…in 1952 Geoffrey Handley-Taylor of Manchester, England, published a brief biography of the [...] by Daisy Fried

A Little Levis on Derby Day May 3, 2008: I grew up going to the track. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration. My stepfather—a writer and a wonderful human—likes to bet on the horses. Every time I go back to Sonoma, my hometown, he and I take at least one day to drive up to OTB and lose a little money. I lose. He wins. So, it’s only fitting that I’m thinking about him today as the [...] by Ada Limón

Dear Harriet, May 3, 2008: I will come out and say it. I’ve been thinking about you constantly. Please don’t tell anyone about this. This is just between me and you, OK? I’ve been meaning to say this for a very long time, for an eternity, actually. I want you. I mean, I want you to want me. Please don’t laugh at my insolence and desperation. I can see you giggling [...] by Linh Dinh

Thursday Shout Out: Jimmy Santiago Baca (okay, it’s Friday) May 2, 2008: For many Latino (and non-Latino) poets, Jimmy Santiago Baca is a hero of sorts. With a long sordid history of pulling himself out and up from the mire, Baca has traversed the poetic world as both a rogue and a wayward leader. Still, I am often surprised that he is not as well known as he should be. With his first poems published in Mother Jones [...] by Ada Limón

Raking up gold dust off the floor May 1, 2008: "I have never done any teaching. I don't think I know enough about anything to do any teaching. I've done all sorts of odd jobs. My weirdest was raking up gold dust off the floor when I was messenger in a gold place on 47th Street. We had to do it with a broom like in Grimm's fairy tales, and sort the gold dust out of the ordinary dirt. I [...] by Don Share