In early April the Bainbridge Public Library joined hundreds of libraries and communities across the U.S. in celebrating National Poetry Month by hosting a Favorite Poem Reading. Favorite Poem Readings gathered individuals from various corners of the island to share their favorite poems with each other, revealing personal ties to specific poems. The nationwide project was begun in 1997. Below you will find some of the poems and their readers. Take a look at some photos by Debbie Lester.
Reader: Guy Sidora
Poem: "Gate C22" by Ellen Bass, from The Human Line, Copper Canyon Press, 2007. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Kathleen Alcala
Poem: "Birth Witness" by Ofelia Zepeda, from Where Clouds are Formed, University of Arizona Press, 2008. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Richard Levin
Poem: "Blue Girls" by John Crowe Ransom, from Two Gentlemen in Bonds, Alfred A Knopf, 1927. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Lee Jorgenson
Poem: "air and light and time and space" by Charles Bukowski, from Run with the Hunted, edited by John Martin. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
Poem: "luck" by Charles Bukowski, from Run with the Hunted, edited by John Martin. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Nancy Rekow
Poem: "Letter to the Scarecrow, from Kansas" by Melinda Mueller, from Asleep in Another Country, Jawbone Press, 1979. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: John Wilson
Poem: "In a Dark Time" by Theodore Roethke, from The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, Doubleday, 1961. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Debbie Lester
Poem: "Summer Solstice", final passage, by Giorgos Deferis, from Three Secret Poems, Harvard University Press, 1969 (out of print). Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Ann Lovejoy
Poem: "When Death Comes" by Mary Oliver, from New and Selected Poems, vol 1, Beacon Press, 1993. To read the entire poem, click here.
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Reader: Frank Buxton
Poem: " Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins, from Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems, Random House, 2001. To read the entire poem, click here.
Poem: "Forgetfulness" by Billy collins, from Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems, Random House, 2001. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Jay Payne
Poem: "Sunday Morning" by Louis Macneice, from Collected Poems of Louis Macneice, edited by E.R. Dodds, Faber & Faber, 1979. To read the entire poem, click here.
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Reader: Hank Teran
Poem: "Of a Forgetful Sea" by Kelli Russell Agodon, from Small Knots, Cherry Grove Collections, 2004. To read the entire poem, click here.
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Reader: John Davis
Poem: "At the Un-National Monument along the Canadian Border" by William Stafford, from The Way it is: New and Selcted Poems, Graywolf Press, 1998. Read the entire poem by clicking here.
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Reader: Kristin Tollefson
Poem: "Poem for a Beautiful Woman" by Matthew Hansen, from Clearing, Kutenai Press, 1986. To read the poem, click here.
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Reader: David Stallings
Poem: two verses from Han-shan's Cold Mountain.
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Reader: Bob McAllister
Poem: "The Book of Yolek" by Anthony Hecht, from The Transparent Man, Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. To read the entire poem, click here.
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