Poetic Medicine

By Gwendolyn Brooks Say to them, say to the down-keepers, the sun-slappers, the self-soilers, the harmony-hushers, "Even if you ...

By Rukmini Kalamangalam The first rain after the hurricane We held our breath Tried not to imagine what it would feel like to be drownin...

By Anne Porter Give praise with psalms that tell the trees to sing, Give praise with Gospel choirs in storefront churches, Mad with the ...

By Alberto Ríos One river gives Its journey to the next. We give because someone gave to us. We give because nobody gave to us. We g...

By Eve Lyons Being robbed makes everyone a suspect: the man coming out of his apartment next door, the garbage man, the man on the street ch...

By Quincy Troupe take it to the hoop, “magic” johnson, take the ball dazzling down the open lane herk & jerk & raise your six-fe...

By Douglas Sagal Today it is written, today it is sealed in the United States of America- Who shall die, and who shall be injured who sh...

By Ruth Goring 1. Last night a couple of church friends and I were at the Chicago O’Hare protest against the Muslim ban and the border wa...

By William Brewer Always this warm moment when I forget which part of me I blamed. Never mind the pills kicking in, their spell that s...

visiting a past self. Being anywhere makes me thirsty. When I wake, I ask God to slide into my head quickly before I do. As a boy, I spit ...

By Tyler Lockett Turn off the lights, turn off the lights, He don’t want y’all to see what’s going on in his life Turn off the lights, t...

By Ellen Bass Bad things are going to happen. Your tomatoes will grow a fungus and your cat will get run over. Someone will leave the b...

By Charles Bukowski there was a frozen tree that I wanted to paint but the shells came down and in Vegas looking across at a green su...

By Najah LaVerne Can I get a fortune cookie? I'll pay you $1, the homeless man said. Why should this simple question startle the sta...

By George Clooney I pray for my country. I pray we can find more that unites us than divides us. I pray that our leaders want to do the ...

By Alicia Ostriker elul: psalm 27 we are told to say the following every day for a month in preparation for the days of awe: you ar...

Today, driving to work, I had to stop and wait while the MAX train crossed in front of me, car after car filled with people on their way ...

By John Haines Suppose there are no returns, and the candidates, one by one, drop off in the polls, as the voters turn away, each to h...

By Norman Stock I wake to hear the latest news Trump’s adviser dislikes Jews should I take cover, should I run will I be under the gun ...

By Jeremy Rutledge  If you want to pray for Houston you have to pray in her way pray like Beyoncé when she was at HSPVA or Billy a...