THE POEMS
INTRODUCTION: Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing: Rumi. A Few Words on the Soul: Wislawa Szymborska. Student, Do The Simple Purification: Kabir.
PART 1: WHAT WE’RE GIVEN: The Tools
Fate and Destiny: Thank You My Fate: Anna Swir. Is That My Fate: St. John of the Cross. Fate and Destiny: Robert Grimes
Joy: Blur: Andrew Hudgins. Welcome Morning: Anne Sexton. The Round: Stanley Kunitz. Salt Heart: Jane Hirshfield. Poem Without a Category: Gensei
Desire/Passion: Just Spring: Tony Hoagland. The Bargain: Cyrus Cassells. From Blossoms: Li-Young Lee. Touch Me: Stanley Kunitz. Lake and Maple: Jane Hirshfield
Ecstasy: Good God, What a Night That Was: Petronius Arbiter. Annuciation: Marie Howe. Ecstasy: Hayden Carruth. That Sounds Wonderful: Hafiz
Silence: After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard: Charles Wright. Rebirth: Antonio Machado. Spring: Tracy K. Smith. Say Nothing: Rumi
Solitude: My Eyes So Soft: Hafiz. I Am Too Alone In the World: Rilke. Visiting Pai-an Pavilion: Hsieh Ling-yun
Nature: maggie and milly and molly and may: e.e. cummings. Miracles: Walt Whitman. Ask Me: William Stafford. Untitled (this is what was bequeathed us): Gregory Orr
Intuition: To A Young Poet: Mahmoud Darwish
Curiosity: You Begin: Margaret Atwood. Iowa City: Early April: Robert Hass. Here Is an Ear Hear: Victor Hernandez Cruz. Damn Thirsty: Hafiz
Courage: Courage: Anne Sexton. We Have Not Come To Take Prisoners: Hafiz
Dreams/ Symbols: it was a dream: Lucille Clifton. Variation On The Word Sleep: Margaret Atwood
PART 2: THE JOURNEY: Suffering
Suffering: On Turning Ten: Billy Collins. Why It Often Rains In The Movies: Laurence Raab. The Search Party: William Matthews. Emergency Haying: Hayden Carruth
Trouble: Jet: Tony Hoagland. Summer Job: Richard Hoffman. trouble with spain: Charles Bukowski
Addiction: Man Of The House: Bob Hicok. Lighthead’s Guide to Addiction: Terrance Hayes. The Loneliness of the Military Historian: Margaret Atwood
The Selling of the Soul: At The Galleria Shopping Mall: Tony Hoagland. Advertisement: Wislawa Szymborska. Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front: Wendell Berry
The Dark Night of the Soul: The Holy Longing: Goethe. Die Before You Die: Rabia. Oceans: Juan Ramon Jimenez. The Layers: Stanley Kunitz
Anger: Mine Enemy Is Growing Old: Emily Dickinson. A Poison Tree: William Blake. Portrait of a Figure Near Water: Jane Kenyon. Family Stories: Dorianne Laux
Grief: For The Sake of Strangers: Dorianne Laux. Grief: Matthew Dickman. The Well of Grief: David Whyte. Sweetness: Stephen Dunn. Lament: Rilke
The Wounds/ The Work/ The Gifts: You See, I Want a Lot: Rilke. Last Night, As I Was Sleeping: Antonio Machado. Thanking My Mother for Piano Lessons: Diane Wakoski
PART 3: BEING IN THE WORLD
Presence/ Attention: The Word: Tony Hoagland. On Living: Nazim Hikmet. For The Raindrop: Ghalib. Say “Yes” Quickly: Rumi
Imagination: Magic Words: Eskimo. The Silence of the Stars: David Wagoner. The Poems I Have Not Written: John Brehm. My Father’s Hobby: Morton Marcus
Improvisation: In The Palais Royale Ballroom in 1948: John Engles. I Am An Atheist Who Says His Prayers: Karl Shapiro. Today, Like Every Other Day: Rumi
Art: To be alive: Gregory Orr. Some Part of the Lyric: Gregory Orr. Poetry Is The Art Of Not Succeeding: Joe Salerno. So You Want To Be A Writer: Charles Bukowski. What He Thought: Heather McHugh
Culture: Memory As A Hearing Aid: Tony Hoagland. Manisfesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front: Wendell Berry. Culture and the Universe: Simon J. Ortiz
Working in the World: Hay for the Horses: Gary Snyder. It Is a Well Lit Afternoon: Anselm Hollo. The Real Work: Wendell Berry. Someone Digging In The Ground: Rumi
Connection: People Like Us: Robert Bly. The Hug: Tess Gallagher. Gate A-4, Naomi Shihab Nye. With That Moon Language: Hafiz. I Sing The Body Electric: Walt Whitman
Intimate Relationships: The Third Body: Robert Bly. Love Sonnet #17: Pablo Neruda. Twyla: Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Discernment: Clarity Is Freedom: St. Teresa of Avila. Blue or Green: James Glavin. Quite Ordinary: Layman P’ang
Discipline/ Practice: Tao Te Ching #8: Lao-Tzu. Those Winter Sundays: Robert Hayden. Tao Te Ching #3: Lao-Tzu
Abundance: Tao Te Ching #44: Lao-Tzu. Like the Water: Wendell Berry. The Meadow: Marie Howe
PART 4: THE HIGHER SELF
Spirituality: See If They Wet Their Pants: Kabir. Are You Looking For Me?: Kabir. Proverbs & Songs #29: Antonio Machado. Tao Te Ching #33: Lao-Tzu. Development: St. John of the Cross. To Be A Slave Of Intensity: Kabir
Surrender: The Man Watching: Rilke. The Guest House: Rumi. Zero Circle: Rumi
Humility: Famous: Naomi Shihab Nye. How Then Can We Argue?: Meister Eckhart. Tao Te Ching #39: Lao-Tzu. There: Hafiz. Pay Homage: Rumi
Kindness/ Compassion: Call Me By My True Names: Thich Nhat Hanh. Kindness: Naomi Shihab Nye. It Happens All The Time In Heaven: Hafiz. The Hope of Loving: Meister Eckhardt
Patience: Tao te Ching #15: Lao-Tzu. Find a Better Job: Hafiz. The Sad Game: Hafiz. Development: St. John of the Cross. Give Me Your Hand: Rilke
Gratitude: The Sun Never Says: Hafiz. The Teacher: Hilarie Jones. Starfish: Eleanor Lerman. Arrogance: St. John of the Cross
Praise: A List of Praises: Anne Porter. Try To Praise The Mutilated World: Adam Zagajewski
Forgiveness: It Acts Like Love: Rabia. Forgiveness Is the Cash: Hafiz. When the Violin: Hafiz. Between Our Poles: Hafiz. What the Water Knows: Sam Hamill
Redemption: Assault to Abjury: Raymond McDaniel
Service: I.Life. VI.: Emily Dickinson. The Servant of Unity: St. Teresa of Avila. Tao Te Ching #27: Lao Tzu
Sanctuary: The Long Boat: Stanley Kunitz. The Sanctuary: Catherine of Siena
PART 5: THE END GAME
Nourishing the Soul: Truth/ Beauty/ Love: Eagle Poem: Joy Harjo. Some Fill With Each Good Rain: Hafiz. A Hundred Objects Close By: Mira. Gift: Czeslaw Milosz. On A Day When The Wind Is Perfect: Rumi
Living a Soul Life: Render, Render: Thomas Lux. Love After Love: Derek Wolcott. Time To Go Home: Rumi. That Lives In Us: Rumi. I Live My Life: Rilke
Death: Death’s Secret: Gosta Agren. Tao de Ching #16: Lao-Tzu. Notes from the Other Side: Jane Kenyon. Tenderly: St. John of the Cross