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Stuff
Documents & Downloads
#Whiteboardgraffiti
Test
Analysis
Arbitrary List of Things Anathema to Good Essays
Class
9
11
AP
Creative Writing
Podcasting
Podcasts
CoralCast
Quite Excellent
Blog
Library
Library
Student Recommendations
Me
About Me
Prose
Poetry
Good Humans
My Digest
April 7, 2025
Wes Lydon
"In a Grain of Sand" - Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

We are Starseeds  
                   every one of us –  
                                                     you & me,

"In a Grain of Sand" -  Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
January 13, 2025
Wes Lydon
"Driving Upstate with My Father" - C.L. O'Dell

at the end of a bad year. Trees begin
to outnumber houses. Rain turns to snow
as fields hang like paintings.

"Driving Upstate with My Father" -  C.L. O'Dell
October 21, 2024
Wes Lydon
"That Part in the Music" - Carl Phillips

Once loyal to a cruel master,
the dog moves like a man who
not so long ago weighed a lot less

"That Part in the Music" -  Carl Phillips
September 16, 2024
Wes Lydon
"Why I Respect the Dog" - Catherine Pierce

The dog weighs twelve pounds
and uses them as she pleases.
The king-size bed is not big enough.

"Why I Respect the Dog" -  Catherine Pierce
August 20, 2024
Wes Lydon
"The Orange" - Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

"The Orange" -  Wendy Cope
Wes Lydon
August 29, 2022

"Transformation" - Adam Zagajewski

Wes Lydon
August 29, 2022
"Transformation" - Adam Zagajewski

I haven’t written a single poem
in months.
I’ve lived humbly, reading the paper,

Tagged: Poetry, Adam Zagajewski, Mysticism for Beginners

1 Comment
Wes Lydon
May 31, 2022

"Continue" - Maya Angelou

Wes Lydon
May 31, 2022
"Continue" - Maya Angelou

My wish for you
Is that you continue

Continue

Tagged: Poetry, Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer

Comment
Wes Lydon
April 11, 2022

"This Morning I Pray for My Enemies" - Joy Harjo (Read by Zoe Malia Luz)

Wes Lydon
April 11, 2022
"This Morning I Pray for My Enemies" - Joy Harjo (Read by Zoe Malia Luz)

And whom do I call my enemy?
An enemy must be worthy of engagement.
I turn in the direction of the sun and keep walking.

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Joy Harjo

Comment
Wes Lydon
January 24, 2022

"Mercy" - Rudy Francisco (Read by Steven Potts)

Wes Lydon
January 24, 2022
"Mercy" - Rudy Francisco (Read by Steven Potts)

She asked me to kill the spider
Instead, I get the most
peaceful weapons I can find.

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Rudy Francisco, Helium

Comment
Wes Lydon
January 3, 2022

Episode 058 - How to Write a Poem

Wes Lydon
January 3, 2022
Episode 058 - How to Write a Poem

Don't be brilliant.
Don't use words for their own sake, or to show
how clever you are,

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Laura Hershey, Laura Hershey: On the Life & Work of an American Master

Comment
Wes Lydon
November 1, 2021

Episode 057 - When Big Trees Fall

Wes Lydon
November 1, 2021
Episode 057 - When Big Trees Fall

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Maya Angelou, I Shall Not Be Moved

Comment
Wes Lydon
October 11, 2021

Episode 056 - How To Triumph Like A Girl

Wes Lydon
October 11, 2021
Episode 056 - How To Triumph Like A Girl

I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Ada Limón, Bright Dead Things

Comment
Wes Lydon
September 20, 2021

Episode 055 - Allowables

Wes Lydon
September 20, 2021
Episode 055 - Allowables

I killed a spider
Not a murderous brown recluse
Nor even a black widow

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Chasing Utopia, Nikki Giovanni

Comment
Wes Lydon
August 30, 2021

Episode 054 - You Get Proud By Practicing

Wes Lydon
August 30, 2021
Episode 054 - You Get Proud By Practicing

If you are not proud
for who you are, for what you say, for how you look;
if every time you stop

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Laura Hershey, Fire in the Soul: 100 Poems for Human Rights

Comment
Wes Lydon
June 7, 2021

Bonus Episode - A Q&A with José Olivarez

Wes Lydon
June 7, 2021
Bonus Episode  - A Q&A with José Olivarez

The (actual) very last episode of the year. Poet José Olivarez answers questions from my students

Tagged: Poetry, Education, José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

Comment
Wes Lydon
May 24, 2021

Episode 053 - My Therapist / Ars Poetica Analysis, with José Olivarez!

Wes Lydon
May 24, 2021
Episode 053 - My Therapist / Ars Poetica Analysis, with José Olivarez!

The very last episode of the year. Poet José Olivarez joins me to discuss the analysis of my students!

Tagged: Poetry, Education, José Olivarez, The Rumpus, Poetry Magazine, Citizen Illegal

Comment
Wes Lydon
May 17, 2021

Episode 052 - José Olivarez Double Feature (My Therapist / Ars Poetica)

Wes Lydon
May 17, 2021
Episode 052 - José Olivarez Double Feature (My Therapist / Ars Poetica)

we are gathered in truce
because my therapist said
it was time to stop running,

….

Migration is derived from the word “migrate,” which is a verb defined by Merriam-Webster as

Tagged: Poetry, Education, José Olivarez, The Rumpus, Poetry Magazine, Citizen Illegal

Comment
Wes Lydon
May 3, 2021

Episode 051 - The Facebook Sonnet

Wes Lydon
May 3, 2021
Episode 051 - The Facebook Sonnet

Welcome to the endless high-school
Reunion. Welcome to past friends
And lovers, however kind or cruel.

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Sherman Alexie, The New Yorker

Comment
Wes Lydon
April 26, 2021

Bonus Episode - Extended Conversation with Michael DuBon

Wes Lydon
April 26, 2021

01:32 - Michael DuBon reads his poem, “In the Wash”

03:30 - Extended conversation with Michael on student analysis

17:28 - Michael answers student questions

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Michael DuBon, Extended Conversation

Comment
Wes Lydon
April 19, 2021

Episode 050 - Instructions on Not Giving Up

Wes Lydon
April 19, 2021
Episode 050 - Instructions on Not Giving Up

More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out
of the crabapple tree, more than the neighbor’s
almost obscene display of cherry limbs shoving

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Ada Limón, Academy of American Poets

Comment
Wes Lydon
April 5, 2021

Episode 049 - In the Wash

Wes Lydon
April 5, 2021
Episode 049 - In the Wash

Arms deep, filth-clad, toilet toil: working at The Ski Tahoe Resort.
Scrubbing this mess of spiders, disposing the cast off suppositories,
the tracks of geriatric indulgence.

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Michael DuBon, Rising Phoenix Review

Comment
Wes Lydon
March 22, 2021

Episode 048 - The Victory

Wes Lydon
March 22, 2021
Episode 048 - The Victory

I thought you were my victory
though you cut me like a knife
when I brought you out of my body

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Seagull Book of Poems (4th Ed), Anne Stevenson

Comment
Wes Lydon
March 1, 2021

Episode 047 - Asparagus

Wes Lydon
March 1, 2021
Episode 047 - Asparagus

He taught me how to slurp asparagus:
You hold it in your fingers, eat the stem
by inches to the tender terminus,

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Marilyn Nelson

Comment
Wes Lydon
February 22, 2021

Episode 046 - Frosting

Wes Lydon
February 22, 2021
Episode 046 - Frosting

Freedom
Is just frosting
On somebody else’s

Tagged: Poetry, Education, Langston Hughes

Comment
Wes Lydon
February 15, 2021

Episode 045 - The Hearth

Wes Lydon
February 15, 2021
Episode 045 -  The Hearth

Alone after the news on a bitter
evening in the country, sleet slashing
the stubbled fields, the river ice;

Tagged: Poetry, Education, The New Yorker, C.K. Williams

Comment
Newer Posts
Older Posts
Featured
"In a Grain of Sand" -  Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
Apr 7, 2025
Poetry, Poets.org, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
"In a Grain of Sand" - Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
Apr 7, 2025
Poetry, Poets.org, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

We are Starseeds  
                   every one of us –  
                                                     you & me,

Apr 7, 2025
Poetry, Poets.org, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
"Driving Upstate with My Father" -  C.L. O'Dell
Jan 13, 2025
Poetry, C.L. O'Dell, The Sun
"Driving Upstate with My Father" - C.L. O'Dell
Jan 13, 2025
Poetry, C.L. O'Dell, The Sun

at the end of a bad year. Trees begin
to outnumber houses. Rain turns to snow
as fields hang like paintings.

Jan 13, 2025
Poetry, C.L. O'Dell, The Sun
"That Part in the Music" -  Carl Phillips
Oct 21, 2024
Poetry, Carl Phillips, Poets.org
"That Part in the Music" - Carl Phillips
Oct 21, 2024
Poetry, Carl Phillips, Poets.org

Once loyal to a cruel master,
the dog moves like a man who
not so long ago weighed a lot less

Oct 21, 2024
Poetry, Carl Phillips, Poets.org
"Why I Respect the Dog" -  Catherine Pierce
Sep 16, 2024
Poetry, Catherine Pierce, The Sun
"Why I Respect the Dog" - Catherine Pierce
Sep 16, 2024
Poetry, Catherine Pierce, The Sun

The dog weighs twelve pounds
and uses them as she pleases.
The king-size bed is not big enough.

Sep 16, 2024
Poetry, Catherine Pierce, The Sun
"The Orange" -  Wendy Cope
Aug 20, 2024
Poetry, Wendy Cope
"The Orange" - Wendy Cope
Aug 20, 2024
Poetry, Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

Aug 20, 2024
Poetry, Wendy Cope
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"no story is so unseemly as to prevent anyone from telling it, provided it is told in seemly language" 

- Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron