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Nichols

Essay

She Would Have Won a Street Fight: Remembering Mel Nichols

By K. Silem Mohammad

She was a winning combination of sassy humor and serious engagement.

An illustration of various animals such as a fish, a grasshopper, and an owl.

Collection

In Their Own Right: The Uncollected Animals Folio

By The Editors

December 8, 2025

Finding kinship with non-human beings.

Poem

Envoi

By Robin Blaser

A lion padded down the sidewalk toward him, shedding
light. He knew he began then to talk–loud enough…

Poem

City Fox

By Ruth Fainlight

It makes me glad to watch a fox
cross the road as I drive at night
through the city after a party.
I admire…

Poem

From the magazine:
I Google Myself

By Mel Nichols

I Google myself
I want you to love me
When I feel down
I want you to Google me
I search myself
I want you to find me...

Poem of the day

From the magazine:Dear Stutter [“Certain words are still warm with your touch”]

By Adam Giannelli

Certain words are still warm with your touch: stutter,

for instance. It always gives me trouble. Perhaps

it’s because saying it reminds me of you, as though...

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FROM THE CURRENT ISSUE OF

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— Nur Turkmani

— Nur Turkmani

Poem

From the magazine:Scimitar

By Arthur Sze

Poem

From the magazine:On Humility

By Shara Lessley

Poem

From the magazine:Kalsarikänni

By Michael Bazzett

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

— January Gill O’Neil

— 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

Sept2025 poetry cover 300dpi RGB

— Alexis Pauline Gumbs.

— Alexis Pauline Gumbs.

Poem

From the magazine:Chipping Sparrow

By Susan Howe

Poem

From the magazine:Raucous Prayer

By Patrick Rosal

Poem

From the magazine:Kamau

By Anthony Joseph

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

Poet Patricia Smith wearing a beaded necklace and smiling with her hand on her chin

Patricia Smith

B. 1955

Patricia Smith

B. 1955

Patricia Smith (she/her) has been called “a testament to the power of words to change lives.” She is the author of Unshuttered (Northwestern University Press, 2023), Incendiary Art (Northwestern University Press, 2017), winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, an NAACP Image Award, and finalist for both the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize; Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (Coffee House, 2012), which won the Lenore Marshall...

Poem Sampler

Patricia Smith: Selections

By Benjamin Voigt

Poem

From the magazine:
Nap Unleashed

By Patricia Smith

Poem

Katrina

By Patricia Smith

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