Poetry Foundation

An illustration of Larry Levis holding a cigarette whose smoke forms an ampersand in the air beside him. In the background is a wintry landscape of a lake and a college building.

Prose from Poetry Magazine

From the magazine:Destroying Time: On the Lasting Legacy of Larry Levis

By Jacques J. Rancourt

An intimate and compassionate voice from a lost paradise.

Prose from Poetry Magazine

From the magazine:
Beyond Black Appalachia

By Megan Pillow

Affrilachian evolution and postcolonial community in the poetry of Frank X Walker.

Poem

From the magazine:
Proof

By Cornelius Eady

You have to imagine it:

Who said you were too dark/too
Large? Too queer/too loud?

Who said you were too…

Poem

From the magazine:The Orchard

By Larry Levis

I had already decided that a thing could not be seen
For the thing it was, when I looked up & waved …

Poem

From the magazine:Affrilachia

By Frank X Walker

thoroughbred racing
and hee haw
are burdensome images
for kentucky sons
venturing beyond the mason-dixon…

Poem of the day

From the magazine:The Small Bells of Benin

By Margaret Danner

In a Chicago museum, these small bells of Benin

are bringing their charm to a foreign scene, without ringing.

...

Subscribe to Poem of the Day

Totes Poetry. Totes Yours. text on dark green background surrounding a tote with a leaping Pegasus

FROM THE CURRENT ISSUE OF

Poetry magazine

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— Ricard Reis, tr. by Margaret Jull Costa & Patricio Ferrari

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— Ricard Reis, tr. by Margaret Jull Costa & Patricio Ferrari

Poem

From the magazine:
Proof

By Cornelius Eady

Poem

From the magazine:The Before Picture

By Maggie Smith

Poem

From the magazine:Sentences

By Dāshaun Washington

Light blue cover for the November 2025 issue of POETRY with the word POETRY in a grid, composed of black letters in various designs.

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— January Gill O’Neil

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Buy this issue

— January Gill O’Neil

Poem

From the magazine:Self-Portrait in Granulated Sugar

By David Hernandez

Poem

From the magazine:Mira with Sarcasm

By Mirabai

Translated By Chloe Martinez

Poem

From the magazine:I Was Lt. Uhura

By January Gill O’Neil

Cover for the October 2025 issue of POETRY magazine.

— Abraham Smith

— Abraham Smith

Poem

From the magazine:Karma Affirmation Cistern Don’t Be Afraid Keep Going Toward the Horror

By Gabrielle Calvocoressi

Poem

From the magazine:A Conversation with My Mother About the Bloodstains on My Shirt

By Darius Simpson

Poem

From the magazine:there are no toothbrushes in heaven

By marion eames white

The Poetry Foundation transforms lives through the power of words. Our work aims to amplify poetry and celebrate poets by fostering spaces for all to create, experience, and share poetry.

How We Fulfill Our Mission

Featured Poets

Frank X Walker

Frank X Walker was born in Danville, Kentucky, and earned a BA from the University of Kentucky and an MFA from Spaulding University. He helped to found the Affrilachian Poets group and served as founding editor and publisher of PLUCK!, the new Journal of Affrilachian Art & Culture. His poetry collections include Load in Nine Times (Liveright, 2024), winner of a PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, About Flight (2015), Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar...

Poem

Harriet

By Frank X Walker

Essay

Blood on the Cotton

By André Naffis-Sahely

Poem

From the magazine:Affrilachia

By Frank X Walker

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