Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885) was an American poet, novelist, and activist. Jackson was upset with the treatment of Native Americans by government agents and she publicized their mistreatment, wrote letters, raised money, and circulated petitions. Her novel, Ramona, addressed the mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California. It was a huge commercial success though that was due more to the romantic story than to the political ideas behind it. I read Ramona when I was a kid and I remember loving it. I should reread it one of these days. I didn’t know Jackson was a poet as well. Here is another autumn poem for your enjoyment. Bending above the…

Rainer Maria Rilke was an Austrian novelist and poet. He lived from 1875-1926. His poetry is considered to be lyrically intense and to bridge the gap between the Romantic era and Modernism. Rilke “explored themes of love, loss, faith, and the nature of existence, often through the use of evocative language and symbolism.” Lord: it is time. The summer was immense.Lay your shadow on the sundialsand let loose the wind in the fields.Bid the last fruits to be full;give them another two more southerly days,press them to ripeness, and chasethe last sweetness into the heavy wine.Whoever has no house now will not build one anymore.Whoever is alone now will remain…

John Ciardi (1916-1986) was born in Boston to Italian immigrant parents. His family saved enough money to send him to college and he graduated from Tufts University. He went on to complete his MA at the University of Michigan. He was awarded the Hopwood Prize for his poetry collection, Homeward to America. Ciardi is particularly known for his translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy and for a book on how to read, write, and teach poetry entitled How Does a Poem Mean? He was also an etymologist. Morning glories, pale as a mist drying,fade from the heat of the day, but alreadyhunchback bees in pirate pants and with peg-leghooks have found…

I have only featured Barbara Hamby once before and, really, that is a crime. I love her conversational style about everyday things. I think that is one of the things I have come to like about poetry. It shines a light on little things that otherwise might be overlooked. Engine like a Singer sewing maching, where have you not carried me—to dance class, grocery shopping, into the heart of darkness and back again? O the fruit you've transported—cherries, peaches, blueberries,watermelons, thousands of Fuji apples—books, and all my dark thoughts, the giddy ones, too,like bottles of champagne popped at the wedding of two people who will pass each other on the…