“[By any measure]” by Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner (born February 4, 1979 in Topeka, Kansas) was awarded the Hayden Carruth prize for his cycle of fifty-two sonnets, The Lichtenberg Figures. In 2004, Library Journal named it one of… Read More
“Cy Twombly, ‘Night Watch'” by H. L. Hix
H.L. Hix teaches at the University of Wyoming. He is also the author of the verse biography, Incident Light (Etruscan Press, 2009). … Read More
“First Party At Ken Kesey’s With Hell’s Angels” by Allen Ginsberg
Cool black night thru redwoods . . .… Read More
Tentacular Lovecraftian Reading Chair
An ideal reading chair for a troubled antiquarian at Miskatonic University . . . thanks to E-Verser Jim Grim for sending this one in.… Read More
“FREE BOOK!”: New Signs for E-Verse’s Free Books in the Cafe Program
E-Verse designer Jennifer displays the newly-minted signs for E-Verse's soon-to-be-launched free books program at Ants Pants Cafe. Stay tuned for more information as the program gets underway.… Read More
“I.E. Preppy, Punk, Nerd, Jock”: Casting Call Poster for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Video
A terrible wave of nostalgia washes over me when I see this poster. Of course, at the time, I would have ignored it even if it were pressed upon me with the… Read More
“Gerontion” by T.S. Eliot
"Gerontion" originally served as a prelude to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. When Eliot dropped the manuscript of the poem with Ezra Pound in Paris, after completing it in Lausanne, Pound cut… Read More
“All That I Owe The Fellows Of The Grave” by Dylan Thomas
A poem by the wild Welshman. … Read More
“Be Drunk” by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Louis Simpson
Special thanks to E-Verser Paul Siegell, who selected today's poem. … Read More
Top Seven “7” Films
What is it about the number seven that's so great? It's got seven swans a-swimming. There are seven deadly sins (as well as their lesser-known counterparts, the seven Catholic virtues of prudence,… Read More
“The Vapour Trail” by James Fenton
From Fenton's libretto to the opera The Love Bomb. … Read More
Listen to E-Verse DJ Keith on WXPN and WDIY
Listen to E-Verse DJ Keith's two radio shows: "The Blend," a mix of modern and roots rock, americana, and all the rest, Wednesdays from 1 to 4PM on NPR member station WDIY, 88.1… Read More
“The Orchid Flower” by Sam Hamill
"Sam Hamill is one of the most disturbing poets of our time. In Almost Paradise he finds his voice both in his own strong work and his intensely powerful translations. I've followed… Read More
“Blandeur” by Kay Ryan
"Her poems are compact, exhilarating, strange affairs, like Erik Satie miniatures or Joseph Cornell boxes. She is an anomaly in today's literary culture: as intense and elliptical as Dickinson, as buoyant and… Read More
“In Paris With You” by James Fenton
While reading Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens' memoir, I've come across quite a few anecdotes involving his friend, poet and critic James Fenton. I was lucky enough to slump around seminars with him in… Read More
“Santa Claws is Coming to Town” by Alice Cooper
Because even the man of nightmares loves Christmas. … Read More
A Fireplace, Enjoy
Have a safe and fun Christmas. Thanks to everyone from the E-Verse staff. … Read More
“Oh the Burden of / nouns . . .” from The Book of Frank by CA Conrad
From C.A. Conrad's reissued book from Wave Books. … Read More
A Very Happy Holiday: E-Verse Breaks 30,000 Unique Readers for the Month
And it shows no signs of stopping. Thanks for reading, everyone. You know who you are: you're stars! Have a fun and safe and happy holiday season. … Read More
Merry Christmas, Everyone
I'll bet this family is going to have a very merry Christmas. … Read More
“Lines on the Winter Solstice” by Ernest Hilbert
Calculated to reflect the sixty minutes in an hour of heightened imaginative contemplation, the poems in Ernest Hilbert’s first book, Sixty Sonnets, contain memories of violence, historical episodes, humorous reflections, quiet… Read More
“Santa Claus” by Howard Nemerov
When David Yezzi recommended "The Town Dump" by Howard Nemerov as Wednesday's poem, he sparked off two more posts. I came up with the top five junkyard poems on my trolley ride… Read More
“The Town Dump” by Howard Nemerov
Regarding his fame, Nemerov told Jake Thompson of the Chicago Tribune, "You do the best you can and really don't worry about immortality all that much, especially as you have to be… Read More
Cruising for a Bruising? How about Angling for a Strangling? Or Aiming for a Laming? Ben Downing Sets Out to See How Many Ways We Can Say It
Ben Downing writes: Christopher Hitchens mentions in Hitch-22 that he and his friends once amused themselves by coming up with synonyms for "cruising for a bruising" (the four he names are "angling… Read More
“The Garden” by Andrew Marvell
"Member of Parliament, tutor to Oliver Cromwell’s ward, satirist, and friend of John Milton, Andrew Marvell was one of the most significant poets of the seventeenth century. The Complete Poems demonstrates his… Read More
“Baradiel Loading Gunpowder into His Harquebus” by Odi Gonzales
From Odi Gonzales’s collection La Escuela de Cusco [The School of Cusco], (Santiago de Surco, Peru: Ediciones el Santo Oficio-Gráficos, 2005), translated by Lynn Levin was first published in. … Read More