You Won’t Believe What These Poets Said About New York City

New York City is a place where creatives flock in order to make their mark. With its magnificent bridges and towering skyscrapers, who wouldn’t draw inspiration from the city that never sleeps? We’d like to share with you a few poems in which NYC has been highlighted. Enjoy!

“My Sad Self” – Allen Ginsberg

“on Fifth Ave below which I also bear in mind,

          its ant cars, little yellow taxis, men

               walking the size of specks of wool”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49307/my-sad-self

“Walk about the Subway Station” – Charles Reznikoff

“Walk about the subway station
in a grove of steel pillars”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/walk-about-subway-station

“Dawn in New York” – Claude McKay

“The Dawn! The Dawn! The crimson-tinted, comes
Out of the low still skies, over the hills,
Manhattan’s roofs and spires and cheerless domes!”

Read the full poem here: http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=370

“On Broadway” – Claude McKay

“The rainbow lights of Broadway blaze

All gay without, all glad within”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44695/on-broadway

“February Evening in New York City” – Denise Levertov

“As the stores close, a winter light

    opens air to iris blue,

    glint of frost through the smoke

    grains of mica, salt of the sidewalk.”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42535/february-evening-in-new-york

“The New Colossus” – Emma Lazarus

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch,”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus

“Gamin” – Frank O’Hara

“All the roofs are wet
and underneath smoke
that piles softly in
streets, tongues are
on top of each other
mulling over the night.”

Read the full poem here: https://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3Fdate=2007%252F06%252F27.html

“Let Me Please Looking into my Window” – Gerald Stern

“Let me please look into my window on 103rd Street one more time—
without crying, without tearing the satin, without touching
the white face, without straightening the tie or crumpling the flower.”

Read the full poem here: https://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3Fdate=2014%252F04%252F04.html

“On Mother’s Day” – Grace Paley

“In those days in the afternoon I floated   

by ferry to Hoboken or Staten Island   

then pushed the babies in their carriages   

along the river wall   observing Manhattan   

See Manhattan I cried   New York!”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48319/on-mothers-day

“Second Generation: New York” – Langston Hughes

“Remember Third Avenue

And the el trains overhead,

And our one window sill geranium

Blooming red”

Read the full poem here: https://www.unz.com/print/CommonGround-1949q1-00047

“Manhattan” – Lola Ridge

“Out of the night you burn, Manhattan,
In a vesture of gold –
Span of innumerable arcs,
Flaring and multiplying –
Gold at the uttermost circles fading
Into the tenderest hint of jade,”

Read the full poem here: http://www.ourdailyread.com/2018/10/poem-of-the-week-manhattan-by-lola-ridge/

“Union Square” – Sara Teasdale

“With the man I love who loves me not,

I walked in the street-lamps' flare;

We watched the world go home that night

In a flood through Union Square.”

Read the full poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46011/union-square

“Mannahatta” – Walt Whitman

“City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts!

City nested in bays! my city!”

Read the full poem here: https://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1881/poems/271

Playlists, Podcasts, and More on Spotify for Poetry Lovers

Who doesn’t love female poets? Listen to the beautiful, intelligent, and influential voices of poets like Joy Harjo, Margaret Walker, and Elizabeth Bishop. This playlist is perfect for when you first get up, while you’re working, or even on your subway ride back home after a long day. Who are we kidding… this playlist is perfect for all hours of the day and night. We could live and breathe listening to this playlist alone. What are you waiting for? Try it out yourself.

Looking for poems, you could stumble across and listen to forever? Want the familiarity of poets like Richard Frost, E.E. Cummings, Max Eastman? Well, look no further. This playlist has all of them! While the playlist might not have the rise and fall in the speaker’s voices like spoken word poets, the words are by no means less powerful. You may suddenly find yourself in summer in the countryside or stumbling along on a winter night.

This specific playlist is a bit more expansive. Or fun for the whole family might be a better term to use? With wide-ranging options, you might be listening to spoken word poets like Sarah Kay, then suddenly switch over to Sylvia Plath. There are even poems interspersed with music from artists like j’san. If you’re adventurous or describe yourself as a little on the wild side, we recommend you take a look. Who knows what you might find!

Ready to take a trip to Elizabethan England? Pull out all your silks and furs, you can even add some buckles for your shoes. This playlist is Shakespeare all day and all night. If you aren’t able to make it to The Globe, close your eyes, and this might just do the work for you. Many of the pieces are also ready aloud by The Marlow Society. So, if you’re craving even more Shakespeare, their account is on hand to guide you through Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Henry IV, and so much more.

Olivia Gatwood and Melissa Lozada-Olivia have a lot to say and a lot of questions too. Navigate topics like yeast infections, true crime, and menstrual cups with these internationally renowned writers and performers. These ladies are relatable, funny, and ready to talk about the hard-hitting topics the world needs to know. What’s more, is if you donate to their patron page, you can get access to their newsletter and secret recordings…

Poetry Unbound, guided by Pádraig Ó Tuama, is a great way to immerse yourself in creative thinking, reflection, and poetry all at the same time. The goal of this podcast is to take a single poem and allow the listener to anchor their week in it. With new episodes on Monday and Friday, this podcast will make sure you’re grounded, while enjoying one of the best things the world has to offer (poetry, duh).

The Poetry Society is one of Britain’s leading art organizations paving the way for “a more general recognition and appreciation of poetry” since 1909. This specific podcast on Spotify explores the ins and outs of poetry concerning craft, poetry happenings, conversations with poets, and so much more. If you’re not only ready to hear poetry be read aloud but truly immerse yourself in the world of poetry, then this playlist is for you. Prepare your ears to learn more than you ever thought you could about this art form.

Who says that poems can’t be your friends? Arguably some of our best friends at PSNY are poems. The Poetry Exchange argues that poems are vital pieces of your friendship circle, whether you know it or not. How sweet! Each episode is made up of a conversation with a person who speaks on how a specific poem has been a friend to them. Looking to add a few more friends to your inner circle, well, The Poetry Exchange has got you covered.

Looking to add some spoken word poetry to your life? Look no further. You might have stumbled across Button Poetry on Youtube before. Why not take a look at their Spotify account too?! Listen to some great spoken word poets like Sabrina Benaim, Rudy Francisco, and Blythe Bard on the reg (as the kids say). Become accustomed to the melodic way these poets exhibit their craft for the world to hear.

Last but certainly not least – did you know we have a Spotify account? Every month we craft a playlist for our fans with artists like The Zombies, Chet Baker, and Bob Dylan for your listening pleasure. While we love poetry here at PSNY, we figured why not shake it up with a little music too? If you have a Spotify account, we would love it if you stopped by and looked around at our picks!

Have a playlist, artist, or podcast we missed that you love? Make sure to let us know, so we can shout it from the rooftops. We want everyone to know about the world of poetry on Spotify!

8 Shocking Truths Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About Poetry

1. You’re at Risk for Metromania

Metromania, otherwise known as an obsessional enthusiasm for writing poetry, be careful when fostering a deep love for poetry. One minute you’re writing a few verses down, and then the next minute, it’s 4am, and you’re hunched over your desk trying to find a metaphor for the subway. Not a good look. We all want to develop our craft, but make sure you keep up on your hygiene and have other passions outside of poetry. Maybe go for a walk outside and get some fresh air? Read a book? Go bird watching? Whatever floats your boat.  

2. You May Suddenly Come to the End of the Sidewalk 

It turns out the cracks on the sidewalk aren’t the only thing you should be worried about when you’re walking around. There is said to be a place where the sidewalk ends. Most children know where it is, but make sure you keep your eyes open for where the chalk-white arrows go. Imagine, one day, you’re walking back home from the library and local farmer’s market, your nose stuck in Wuthering Heights expecting the next step to carry you home, but instead, you’re tumbling into the abyss. It could be just like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, or it could be worse. Your mother will blame it on technology, saying, “Those kids never look away from their damn phones.” 

Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends”: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14836

3. You’re at Risk for Developing a Deep Fear of Ravens 

One night in bleak December, there is a chance you may be grieving for your late wife Lenore, but instead, a raven will come tapping on your chamber door. At first, you may think that it’s wind and nothing more, but you will find it perched on the bust of Pallas. While it’s hard getting over a loved one, having an omen of death in your study may not be the ideal house guest. Furthermore, poetry, while full of rainbows and puppies (while objectively cute), is also full of darkness and mysticism, so be wary. And don’t forget, “Nevermore.” 

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven

4. You May Want to Live Alone 

Maybe it’s in your room on the second floor of your house? Emily Dickinson wrote poetry in her room for the last twenty years of her life apart from society! Or maybe it’s in the woods recording Transcendentalist interpretations of nature like Henry David Thoreau? Writing poetry is something that is typically done alone, and there are many great poems about solitude. However, be warned, one too many days away from society can make anyone a little loopy. At least give your mom a call via carrier pigeon, so she doesn’t worry. 

5. You May Have to Choose Between Two Roads 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to get lost in the woods and find yourself trampling through the woods trying to find a way out. It happens to the best of us. However, alarmingly many people immersed in poetry find themselves divided between two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And who’s to say which one is the best one to take? The way that most people follow or the road less traveled? Ultimately, you’ll have to decide which beaten path to follow.  

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken

6. Occasionally You’ll Come Face to Face with Death  

You might start seeing visions of phoenixes or have death stop for you on the side of the road in a carriage. Death may occasionally strike a bargain with you or knock on your door. Either way, in the world of poetry, death will most likely have some sort of presence in your life. Don’t worry, having a relationship with death can be a powerful force in a poet’s life. Rumor has it that Sylvia Plath was even able to rise from ash! 

Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49000/lady-lazarus

Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not Stop for Death”: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47652/because-i-could-not-stop-for-death-479

7. You Will Start Comparing Your Lovers to a Summer’s Day 

Forget babe, honey, or sweetie, all those ways you’ve been addressing your significant loved one will go out the door once you’re involved in poetry. The new best way to show love to your partner will be to compare them to a summer’s day. Truthfully, their eternal beauty will never fade, so why not state the obvious attributes of your lover. However, you’ll have to get crafty with the metaphors and similes before you run out of time. 

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18: https://poets.org/poem/shall-i-compare-thee-summers-day-sonnet-18

8. You Might Have a Strange Descent Into Your Elderly Years 

Hang onto your youth while you still have it. One minute you’re running around and living out your childhood. Then you’re spending your money on brandy and summer gloves, and suddenly life has flashed before your eyes. Your eating habits will shift into the ability to eat three pounds of sausages or only bread and pickle for a week! The good news is that you won’t have to buy any more clothes since you’ll be wearing purple for the rest of your life! 

Jenny Joseph’s “Warning”: https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/warning/

Interviews with Tina Chang and Lynn Melnick

Lucy Cheseldine sits down to chat with Brooklyn poets, Tina Chang and Lynn Melnick, to talk about their work, advice for aspiring writers, and much more.

Tina Chang

Cheseldine:  Hi, we're here in Brooklyn with Tina Chang, one of our headliners at the New York Poetry Festival this year. And we're just going to have a little chat about what brought you to poetry and how you became to be a poet. 

Chang: Yeah, I started off as a poet, probably in college, where I started to get the scary feeling that I was maybe very interested in poetry. But I didn't really know what that kind of life would be like, and I thought (and my mother thought) would be a very finically insecure life. But then as time went on, I tried different jobs - I was in the fashion editorial field, and I was really sad. And I thought let me think back to a time where I was very happy, and it was when I was in college and in a circle discussing poetry. And I thought I have to find a way to get back to that place. 

I decided to apply for an MFA, and I just happened to get into schools in New York. And that meant for me that I should stay in New York. And then, I studied, and then right after that, after publishing my first book, my career just started taking off on its own. And I think it just followed a natural trajectory after that, where I found myself more and more immersed in the poetry field. And yeah, I think that's how it happened, and in terms of the Brooklyn Poet Laureate, that was such a surprise. I mean, I think I was pregnant with my first child, and I was very focused on being a mother.

And then, my husband was reading the newspaper, and he said, "Oh, there was an advertisement here that they're looking for the next Brooklyn Poet Laureate. And there are poets here on the list they are thinking would be a great person for the job."

And I said, "Am I on the list?"

He said, "Let me see. No, you're not."

And I thought, "Maybe I shouldn't apply."

He said, "Well, that's just a journalist… you should still apply."

But I forgot about it. And then a few weeks later a committee got in touch with me.

And they said, "We're really looking far and wide for the next Brooklyn Poet Laureate. We would love for you to apply."

So literally overnight, I applied, and I realized everything I was doing up until that point was really leading up to that position.

And I interviewed for it the next day the Brooklyn Borough President, who was Marty Markowitz, called me up on the telephone and said, "Good morning Brooklyn Poet Laureate."

So, it was just this beautiful prize that came out of nowhere that motherhood and being the Poet Laureate of Brooklyn happened at the exact same time. So, they say be careful what you wish for because it all happened all at once. 

Cheseldine:  That's fantastic. And did the position kind of change your relationship to Brooklyn? Did it strengthen it?

Chang:  It really did strengthen it. I think that before I became the Poet Laureate of this burrow, I wasn't quite aware of how much was happening in the burrow. And then, when I got the position, suddenly, I was being welcomed into all of these spaces. And I realized there are spaces in Williamsburg, there are spaces in Dumbo, there are spaces in all these pockets of Brooklyn where so much good work in poetry is being done. There is poetry for pre-K (for kids) that are just beginning to learn words and learning how to read. There is poetry for those who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. I mean there really are so many different services being offered. And so many communities that welcomed me in and offered me a scope and picture of what it was they were doing. So, more than anything, I feel so honored that so many organizations welcomed me into their space to say - This is what we're doing every day on behalf of poetry. These are the projects that we have, and we want you to be involved in some way. It's almost an embarrassment of riches. There is so much happening in Brooklyn, and I don't think I would have been aware of just the range of how much is being done unless I had this position. 

Cheseldine:   And did that influence your most recent collection of poetry hybrid, which is this kind of connection? There's a lot of disjoint in the collection as well as there is a sense of community. 

Chang:  Well, at the heart of the collection is just urban living. It's this idea of living in New York and what that's like. And I think just being here, I've been here my entire life, outside of traveling for readings and maybe a stint in San Francisco for two to three years, I'm really a New Yorker at heart. This is where I live, this is where I breathe, this is where I fell in love, this is where I found my family, so everything I know is here. So, it seemed very natural after I had my child, I wasn't necessarily searching for a topic to write about. I was just very naturally writing about my family. What started out as reading fairytales to my son and daughter really kind of turned into a different kind of myth about how children are living today. Especially children of color. And what seems like safety for some is not for others is I think our current political situation is teaching us. Not everyone is created equal in this country. And I think that as I was writing it in this urban environment, that is Brooklyn, that is New York. I was thinking about not only the backdrop but the environment, the setting, that someone like my children are living in right now. Is it safe? Is it truly safe? We're surrounded by beauty, it's calm, there are trees, there are brownstones. But then there's a different kind of life for a child of color, and I think that the setting of New York played a big part in that. 

Cheseldine:  Did your identity as an Asian American woman play into that or as your identity as a New Yorker?

Chang:  I identify as so many different things - that's another that I've learned. We identify as women, definitely, especially in this current administration, I definitely identify as a woman. But I think as an Asian American woman, it actually took me a really long time to find out what that meant. I think because I spent a long time, not necessarily denying it, but not really understanding what it meant for me until I also reach college. I realized that everybody that I was studying was either from America or the UK. And I had never studied an Asian poet, I had never studied an African poet, I hadn't studied a good majority of the world. And I only came to realize that in college (because of) wonderful teachers. But there was definitely something lacking in terms of the type of background I was being offered. And it was after I graduated that I saw the lack, and I tried to fill up those pockets by educating myself.

And what that really meant was heading out into New York City, looking for different reading series, basically living at the library, living at bookstores, talking to people. I was really in charge of finding what I was missing. And so, I found an organization called The Asian American Writer's Workshop which helped me to discover, that I'm Asian American. And there is such a breath, and such a range, of writers that I could be discovering. And it felt like it was just the beginning and I think it was back in 1991 that I discovered them and just the whole world opened up for me. Where I could be really proud of who I was, where I could read other Asian American poets, and know that the world reading was actually so large. 80% of what I was reading had actually little to do with me. You know I think that I searched for a long time in terms of what could even be a notion of who I was in literature, which I never saw before. Strangely very few of my teachers presented that to me. But I also think that they gave me enough of a background and enough of a knowledge of poetry to be able to head out there to do it for myself. 

Cheseldine:  Do you have a nugget of advice for aspiring writers?

Chang:  Well, I got some really great advice a long time ago. I think one of the greatest pieces of advice that I got from my graduate schoolteacher when I was leaving Columbia – I was really hesitant to leave because I had such a wonderful experience there. I was scared to go out to the world and be on my own. 

And I said, "Can you give me one more piece of advice?" 

And he said, "Well, never stop writing."

And I thought it was the simplest piece of advice, and I said, "Is that advice?"

And he said, Absolutely. 80% of your class will stop writing over time because it gets too difficult, because life gets hard, because they have other responsibilities, or they have a family or other aspect of their lives. Be the 20%."

And that professor was so right because really only 20% of our class continued on and continued to be published, poets. And the other 80% went on to do really wonderful things, but it wasn't poetry. So, I think that was a lesson to me that number one, my professor knew a lot, and that the simplest idea that he planted in me really grew. And in those moments where especially as a young poet, there were lots of moments where I could have quit, I think it did seem like life was harder. It did seem like life was telling me to turn in another direction and try something else. And maybe try something a little bit more lucrative and a little bit more stable, and had I not had those professor's words somewhere in the back of my mind, I think I would have done something different. I might have wound up in the fashion industry or done something that seemed a bit more sensible. And I think that now it's later, it's 20-30 years later, I think that everything about me is not sensible and I needed to adhere to that. So, his piece of advice and my piece of advice to sort of add to that for any young poets, poetry is about writing very, very well and studying your craft and doing all that you can to understand this beautiful art form. But in addition to that, it's also about a person's tenacity. A person's will to want to continue on in this very, very difficult art form. And also, a very difficult industry or career because we do have to support our self through this. I think it's just that aspect of it that feels very difficult, so if someone can persist through all of that, then you know the art form and the career get to marry one another. And I think that is the piece of advice. I hope I can pass on to someone since it has been incredibly valuable to me. 

Cheseldine:  Well, I'm glad you kept writing. 

Chang: Thank you! I'm glad I kept writing too, thank you so much. 

---

Lynn Melnick

Cheseldine:  We're here on the Highline with Lynn Melnick, one of our great poets, who's going to be reading at the New York Poetry Festival. And we're just going to ask a few questions about poetry and what the city means to you.

Melnick: Thanks! Thanks for having me.

Cheseldine:  Thanks for being here! So, so much of your poetry is about the intersections of your life. I was wondering how you draw the line between being a writer and having experiences in the world, and where that sits?

Melnick: Well, that's a good question. Mostly what I write is autobiographical. Most of the time, I sort of write my ancient history, so it doesn't really interfere with my current life. Sometimes, I write about things that are happening right now, but I'm also sort of dreadfully good at compartmentalizing. So, I just sort of put all the crap in the poem, and then I can go off and be sort of a functioning person like 80% of the time.

Cheseldine:  So, lots of your poetry asks, when we should speak, when we're allowed to speak, and when we're not allowed to speak. And I just wondered how your roles as a teacher and an activist, and your world in the arts, play alongside your role as a poet as well?

Melnick: Because I spent so much of my earlier life, not speaking, actually speaking up in my poetry saved me and used to save me. And I felt really strongly about just writing my truth and telling my story. And it sort of spills over into my life as an activist because I can't shut up about certain things. It all sort of blends together, it's all of a piece. In my personal life, I feel the need to say what is true to me. I think to acknowledge certain truths even when they're painful is what will ultimately make them right.

Cheseldine:  I was wondering about your relationship to revise your poems and the writing process if you could tell us a bit about that.

Melnick:  I love revising. Revising is my favorite thing, and I think that I drive my students crazy because I make them revise a lot. When I write, I sort of vomit everything out onto the page because if I don't do it quick enough, I feel like I'm going to miss something that I need to say. And then I shape it endlessly. I tinker with things endlessly. That's why I'm slow at writing because I want it to be absolutely perfect. Revising, I think it is exhilarating. And that's what I try to tell my students. You can take something good and make it extraordinary, and why not do that. It's so worth it, and it's exciting, it's my favorite hobby. I think it's addictive. And that's actually a problem too. Because then I turn to my manuscript and then I'm like, well let me change this one word or this column and then it's a book.

I emailed my editor a few months ago, and I was like, "If we go into another printing, can we just maybe change this one piece of punctuation?"

She's very patient. She was like, "Sure."

But it is addictive because art is living, and it can always be made better. And the feeling that you're never done with something stressful but also comforting at the same time.

Cheseldine:  So, I wanted to ask you a bit about your Americana in your poems, this kind of pick-up trucks and rusted basketball hoops, and what your relationship to that nostalgia means?

Melnick: That's a good question, and that does come into my last book, Landscape with Sex and Violence quite a lot. And in my next manuscript even more so, which I wrote after Trump was elected. And so, I was sort of talking a lot about Americanness and what it means. I also lived in Los Angeles in the 1980s, which I think was a particularly horrible time for American pride and a particularly horrible place for it. Like we felt really good about ourselves while the country was just sort of going to shit. And I think those are the images that are so much in my last book of the things that we were supposed to be very proud of and feel really good about but were really just really dark and horrible. And so, the kind of idea of Americanness versus the reality of Americanness is something that I'm always interested in. Just like I'm always the same way with anything that I write about – the sort of lies we tell ourselves about who we are personally, and also about our country, and fellow citizens, and all of that. Because the last book what I was writing about was so much part of the uncertain part of the time during the 1980s, it was the tail end of the Cold War, and we were kind of winning. Everyone was feeling really good about ourselves, it sort of brought out the true grossness of pride in ourselves. Because America is a shit show. We're sort of seeing that more now that we're in this mess in with Trump, but it was always there. Now the bad parts are just free to announce themselves and crap all over us, instead of doing it privately.

Cheseldine:  Now, please say some nice things about New York City!

Melnick:       I have almost but nothing to say but nice things about New York City. I love New York City. I've lived here for 25 years this month. I definitely believe this city saved me, and I love it. It's always surprising to me, it's always energizing to me, I'm raising my kids here, which seems like a gift. I had this wonderful moment where I was driving in from the airport, we were going along one of the side streets, all the way from Queens to Brooklyn where I live. And we passed like every neighborhood and all different kinds of people. And I was so filled with this desperate love for this city. I was like I can't believe I feel this way. Like I'm constantly falling in love with it, and I can't imagine feeling any different. Plus, I don't know how to drive, and this is the only place in America where you don't need a car.  

Cheseldine:  So that must be really good for your writing, that kind of constant beginning and refreshing. Is there any particular reason why you like to write?

Melnick:  You know I mostly write at home. I don't have a desk. I write on my couch. Lately, I've been taking my laptop to coffee houses because my kids are home for the summer, and they're driving me bananas. So, I can write in a coffee shop, but I prefer to write at home because it feels safe to me, and what I write about are really unsafe scary things. So, I don't want to be sitting at the library crying or having this sort of overwhelming moment. And also, when you're writing at home, when you get stuck you can just go do dishes or something, which is very helpful for me. But the city is very inspiring to me. I don't write a whole lot about it. I tend to write about what complicates me and what makes me confused and anxious. I almost always feel completely in love with the city, so I'm great at love poems. That's why I start writing more about Los Angeles than New York City. But obviously, New York has shaped me, I've lived here longer than anywhere else. It feels like home to me. I feel comfortable here.

It's hard to write about it when you're in it, it's like I was saying before. Most of what I was writing about is mostly ancient history for me because it's hard to write about trauma or really almost anything when you're right in the middle of it. I've done it a couple of times, but that distance is nice. But also, just being in a place that just makes me feel so safe and loved. Like I do feel very loved by this city. To me, it's like a living thing. Not to be corny, but to be a headliner at the Poetry Festival is really special to me because New York is my heart.

Cheseldine:  On that note, do you have any corny advice for the corny aspiring writers?

Melnick: Making it in the city and just existing in the city is just really hard. I've lived here for 25 years; I'm still barely making it. As far as writing goes, I always tell this to my students and my younger students find this horrific – I published my first book when I was thirty-nine. Which you know, when you're twentysomething sometimes, it doesn't happen right away. The type of poems I was writing were not trendy for a long time, and people weren't all that interested in what I did. But you have to be true to yourself, so you write what you write for you. It's not that I don't want people to read it because I do, and I want people to buy my books, but I also need to write what I need to write. So, I guess that leaves me with the other thing that I would say, which is that as a writer, even just as a person, you know who you are. Don't forget who you are and don't let other people define who you are. I think that's a risk because we want to fit in, and we see other people succeeding, and they're writing this kind of poem, and we want that, but I really think we know who we are. How we write and how we're supposed to be writing for ourselves, and so that would be my advice. Stick with it and don’t expect that everything is going to happen right away. You can still be old like me and still publish your books. It will still work out fine. Not everyone will get everything right away.

I think it's hard because social media makes it look like everyone is doing all these really wonderful things all the time. This is not true, like five people are doing really wonderful things all the time, I'm convinced of it. Karmically they must have done something great. But the rest of us are doing really wonderful things some of the time, and the rest of the time, we're doing boring bullshit that has to be done.

6 Healing Crystals for Crafting Your Next Poem

Rose Quartz 

A love token, the soft rose hue of rose quartz fosters tender energy of compassion, self-love, and forgiveness. Rose quartz is known for bringing about calming effects, reassurance, and strengthening empathy skills. This crystal is therefore perfect for dissolving emotional wounds and stimulating inward reflection to spur a poem that comes from the heart. 

While many anecdotes are encompassing the rose quartz, one of the simplest originates from Greek mythology. Legend proclaims that Cupid, the Roman god of desire, and Eros, the Greek god of love, bestowed the offering of love in the form of the rose quartz anticipating cultivating love and passion in mortals. 

If you are looking to cleanse an emotional wound, magnetize romantic energy, or find comfort in everyday life, rose quartz will foster this act of self-care. Furthermore, once you work to grow your self-worth and trust your intuition, you are more likely to comprehend your desires and needs. What’s more, is that by tending to the love in your own heart, it can further play out in your writing. 

Compatible: Libra and Taurus

Citrine 

By inspiring creativity and imagination, citrine brings about joy and wonder in your everyday life. Furthermore, with mindful qualities and optimistic energy, this warm crystal keeps you motivated and focused on your poetry. Alongside this newfound concentration, citrine is known for strengthening confidence, dissipating negative thoughts, and puts intention into reality. 

In Ancient Greece, citrine was used during the Hellenistic Age for decorative reasons because of its honey shade. It was also desired during the Art Deco era by the rich and famous, making it accessible in jewelry today.  

If you’re looking to start something new or find the energy to start back up again, this pick-me-up gem should do the trick. So, manifest your wishes, wants, deepest desires, and dreams while this crystal is around to improve your craft. 

Compatible: Gemini, Aries, Libra, and Leo 

Tiger’s Eye 

Also known as the “all-seeing-and-knowing eye,” Tiger’s Eye merges frequencies from the Sun and Earth to harness guidance and balance in your life. With a more grounded way of thinking, writers can reduce scattered reflection and make for clearer thought processes. It’s also said to increase patience, along with reducing anxiety and self-doubt in times of tough decisions. 

In the 1800s, the tiger’s eye was advertised sold as a semi-precious after being unearthed in South Africa before it became more accessible in the 1900s. It mainly took off in the 1980s, becoming more appealing because of its ability to reflect light. 

If you’re feeling withdrawn from your work, consider keeping the tiger’s eye near you to keep in the right direction. With inner strength and motivation to conquer your goals, this crystal is a staple for helping you to overcome goals and finish your poem. 

Compatible: Capricorn 

Amethyst

A semi-precious stone, amethyst carries energy to calm the mind and enhance intuition to improve your communication skills. Concerning your poetry, it boosts qualities like sincerity, which ultimately creates a sense of trust between writers to their readers. Amethysts are also advantageous in times of stress, and anxiety to connect the self with earth brings forth serenity. 

Amethyst derives in Greek mythology, after the wine god, Bacchus, took pity (by pouring grape juice over the stone) on the maiden Amethyst after turning her into a white crystal. The crystal was also once thought to protect from inebriation and spiritual intoxication. 

Overall, the cleansing energy of the amethyst improves wellbeing and rids of intrusive thoughts, allowing you to focus on your writing and make rational decisions. 

Compatible: Virgo, Aquarius, and Capricorn

Hematite

The powerful energy of the hematite increases your mental organization by working to clear you of anxiety. This grounding crystal gives you a reality check and is an excellent tool for manifestation. Therefore, whatever your next idea for a poem is, hematite is a staple crystal surround yourself with. 

In the Stone Age, humans used hematite as a sort of chalk for drawing on cave walls, while Native Americans used the stone to protect warriors during battle. 

Hematite is also said to strengthen logical thinking by creating a calm mental state for those hoping to accomplish their next task. Feeling clouded while writing? Hematite is an excellent solution for that. 

Compatible: Aries and Aquarius  

Aventurine Stone

Known for being one of the “stone of opportunity,” the aventurine stone, fosters optimistic and positive energy. This crystal allows you to break out of your comfort zone, so try breaking the rules and being adventurous in your next poem.  

This lucky stone is also perfect for boosting confidence and igniting creativity, by pushing you to question previous thoughts and ideas about yourself. Don’t worry! Aventurine also is a very reaffirming stone and can be an emotional anchor for those who need a new direction or opportunity in their life. 

Compatible: Taurus and Libra

What Contemporary Poet You Should Read Based on Your Zodiac Sign

We all know that the alignment of the planet at the time of your birth determines the course of your career, romantic taste, and basically everything else. But what about your poetic moods?

Aries (March 21 - April 19): Terrance Hayes

The sign of Aries, ruled by Mars and marked by the element of Fire, is known for being courageous and bold. In the current political climate, Aries is particularly suited to activism and speaking out for what they believe is right. No contemporary poet better represents the characteristic of the firey Aries than Terrance Hayes, who performed at the 2018 New York City Poetry Festival. Hayes’ 2018 poetry collection, American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin, examines Trump-era America not as an outlier, but as part of a long history of American inequality. True to its title, the collection is entirely comprised of sonnets. However, Hayes masterfully turns the traditional fourteen liners into a reversal of their strict conservatism, as he employs simple yet active language to address Trump, racism, and violence.

Taurus (April 20 - May 20): Robert Pinsky

The reliable Taurus is grounded both in their thoughts and in their actions. At age 78, Robert Pinsky, who has written over nineteen books, is a clear representation of Taurus dedication. Pinsky may be the oldest poet on this list, but his energy and commitment is constantly renewing. He has served as United States Poet Laureate, and published countless works for which he has won numerous awards and accolades. Pinsky’s poetry often carries a steady Taurus tone, with punctuated sentence patterns and syncopated line breaks. These firm, continuing beats guide the reader through his messages from life, about life, for life. Pinsky was also a headliner at the 2019 New York City Poetry Festival.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20): Tina Chang

Geminis are known for their excellent ability to tune in with their different identities. In Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang’s 2019  collection, Hybrida, she explores the issue of mixed identities — hybrids — through both content and form. As an Asian-American mother to a black son, Chang delves into the push and pulls of race, sex, and motherhood. Her poems examine questions of voice quite literally, narrated by different voices and written in different styles. 

Cancer (June 21 - July 22): Ocean Vuong

Cancers are concerned with emotion, connection, and family. With their intuitive minds, Cancers will love Ocean Vuong’s deeply intimate and authentic works. Vuong’s highly acclaimed 2016 collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, examines love and self-love amidst displacement, and as the title suggests, the lasting trauma of exile. His 2019 stylized novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, a rumination on his language barriers with his mother, will tear at the heartstrings of every Cancer. No matter the subject matter, Vuoung’s voice remains emotionally perceptive, lyrically precise, and deeply poignant.

Leo (July 23 - August 22): Aracelis Girmay

Being royalty, Leos will love Aracelis Girmay’s Kingdom Animalia. Girmay’s grounded, deeply expressive work examines our place in the natural world. Creatives born under this sign will love Girmay’s imaginative works such as “Self-Portrait as the Snail,” “Self-Portrait as the Snake.” She not only turns herself into an animal, but brings to life inanimate objects and concepts, as well, expressing people and their motivations through the three principles that govern all animal needs: hunger/desire, and death. As “Elegy” puts it: “Listen to me. I am telling you/ a true thing. This is the only kingdom./ The kingdom of touching;/ the touches of the disappearing, things.” Leos will appreciate it as Girmay warmly leads us through the world in which lions are king. 

Virgo (August 23 - September 22): Natasha Tretheway 

Virgos are kind and hardworking, a combination that they channel into caretaking and nurturing. Former US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer-Prize winner Natasha Tretheway puts this care into her poetry and her celebration of others before her. Tretheway’s lines and stanzas reflect the organized nature of Virgos. She orders her poetry into distinct couplets or quatrains, creating a rhythmic and grounded atmosphere. Her 2018 collection, Monument, is a testament to centuries of unrecorded black history, unsung black heroes, and unmentioned black culture. Her collection becomes their monument, as she eulogizes past and present struggles of black Americans, though not without joy.

Libra (September 23 - October 22): Claudia Rankine

Libras love balance and fairness, both in the small events of everyday life, and in larger issues concerning the world. Claudia Rankine exercises Libra grace in her brave, expressive writings about discrimination. Her 2014 book, Citizen: An American Lyric, a finalist for the National Book Award, examines black identity and race relations in America. In her work, she combines traditional poetry with art, heavy line breaks and unusual punctuation, as she balances the scales of text and blank space.

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poet with poets @nycpofest ❤️ 🌷 ✨

A post shared by Chen Chen (@chenchenwrites) on Jul 30, 2019 at 6:50am PDT

Scorpio (October 23 - November 21): Jericho Brown

Scorpios are expressive and emotional, brave and assertive, and above all value honesty. Jericho Brown’s electrifying work is not afraid of confronting truths. His newest collection, The Tradition, examines both wide political issues and inner personal conflicts. Brown defies the titular tradition by circumventing it with his deeply honest, startling poetry. His innovative writing stems from mythical roots and other traditional imagery, which he employs both as history and parody. Jericho Brown headlined the 2016 New York City Poetry Festival and was also spotted out there in 2019 hanging out with Chen Chen (our recommendation below for all you Capricorns!).

Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21): Tracy K. Smith

The fearless explorers under Sagittarius will love traveling all the way off the planet in Tracy K. Smith’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Life on Mars. Tracy K. Smith is currently serving as the Poet Laureate of the United States. Smith’s work often mixes modernity and poetic traditions, science fiction and history, to underscore truths about human nature. 

Capricorn (December 22 - January 19): Chen Chen

Capricorns rely on structure and long-term planning, asking themselves from a young age what they want to be when they grow up. Chen Chen answers this question in his 2018 collection, When I Grow Up I Want to be a List of Further Possibilities. His lovely, open-ended discussions of love and self-actualization are sure to assuage Capricorn fears of narrow career paths to success. The extreme honesty with which Chen Chen tackles questions of self helps create deeply authentic, witty, moving, poignant, charming stories. Chen Chen was a headliner of the New York City Poetry Festival in 2019 and also a participant in the first even Milk Press Happening.

Aquarius (January 20 - February 18): Cathy Park Hong

The original Aquarius deserves some original writing. Many contemporary poets could produce this novelty, but one of the most unconventional poets is the whimsical Cathy Park Hong. Cathy Park Hong challenges literary foundations by playing with punctuation, words, and letters. The musical Aquarius will love her imaginative rhythms, slant rhymes, and exclamation marks. Check out “Ballad in A,” for an extreme example, where Cathy Park Hong uses the same dozen words to create an extensive poem. Despite — or because of — her witticisms, many of her pieces are deeply meaningful. Her works will cause mixtures of amusement and contemplation, as she uses humor and wordplay to reveal the cores of current issues.

Pisces (February 19 - March 20): Morgan Parker

Pisces are imaginative, artistic, and intuitive. With their natural creativity any Pisces would love the work of Morgan Parker. Parker often plays with the structure of lines on a page, creating visual art with her words, and her rhythmic patterns would have the musical Pisces speaking the words out along with her. Her 2017 collection, There are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé, is both funny and wise. including a list poem titled “99 Problems” and a piece named “It’s Getting Hot in Here So Take Off All Your Clothes.” Her clever titles and unusual styles do not detract from her important message. Parker fiercely illuminates the experience of black women in America, her daring humor confronting what has no punchline: the unbelievable, the extreme, the all-too-real.

AN AUDIBLE SHAPE IN TIME: a Q&A with Robert Pinsky!

Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate of the United States and 2019 headliner of the New York City Poetry Festival recently had a chat with PSNY intern and University of Leeds PhD candidate, Lucy Cheseldine.

LC: How does a poem start for you? Do certain lines appear first or does the shape come as a whole? 

RP: The Yeats phrase “I get a chune in my head” seems to apply. It's a matter of the sentence-sounds, the melody of it, maybe without much meaning. Like a conversation heard through a closed door, to use another famous way of saying it: the sound of a meaning before the meaning. An audible shape in time.

LC: Lots of your poetry records snippets of urbanity. How do you understand the relationship between poetry and the city? What role, if any, do observation and experience play here? 

RP: Back to sound, I guess: in the city, compared to the country or the suburbs, there’s more speech per square inch, more music per square mile, probably even more bird-song per square foot. Truth is, I grew up in an ocean-side resort town, so “snippets” may be exactly how I first encountered the city.

LC: You’ve spent time as the Poet Laureate of the United States. Does a poet have a civic duty? And to what extent might this be bound up with memory?  

RP: The poet’s duty is to make poems. The “Laureate” title has that silly, anglo-phile cachet—“Consultant in Poetry” has more soul and dignity— but it’s true that laurel stays green, the bay leaf in the food of memory.

LC: In Democracy, Culture and the Voice, you call poetry “a vocal imagining”. Do you ever talk out loud when you are writing? How do you distinguish reading your poems aloud in front of an audience from the internal vocalisations of reading poetry? 

RP: I always talk out loud when I am composing, or at least mumble out loud. Can’t do it any other way. In that sense “writing” is a kind of misnomer for what I do. The writing part, the pen or computer or Selectric is just for notation, like putting notes on the stave. The music itself is vocal.

LC: Do you think being a critic of poetry has helped your creative practice? 

RP: “The highest form of criticism is actual composition.” The word “critic” comes from krinos, to choose, I think I have read. So the poet must be a critic every moment, in composition. Many so-called critics don't do much actual choosing, or are bad at it.

LC: You take “poetry as breath”. Do you have a poem or poet that you continue to return to when your own sources need replenishing? 

RP: Emily Dickinson, William Butler Yeats, Fulke Greville, William Carlos Williams, Robert Hayden, Elizabeth Bishop, Ben Jonson, Allen Ginsberg, John Keats, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Gwendolyn Brooks, George Gascoigne, Michael Drayton, Stevie Smith . . . among many others . . . 

LC: How would you define ‘poetry’ to someone who is afraid to read it?

RP: It’s a kind of art based on the sounds of words, partway between talking and singing. After saying that, I’d beg that person to watch a couple of the brief videos at the Favorite Poem Project.

Top 5 Reasons Personalized Poems Are the Ultimate Party Favor

1. Poetry sticks around. For a long, long time. 

Check out this quote from Sappho:

That quote is over 2600 years old—she was right! Also, traditional party favors are overrated. I have received way too many cookies and pastries that taste like sand from the moon. The pens are a slight upgrade, but to be honest, who needs another pen (yes, even when it doubles as a stylus!), when we have smartphones and (hopefully) finger-tips? 

The best party favor, by far, is personalized poetry. Even when the physical paper containing the poem is gone, the memory of the poem will stay with the guest for a lifetime (at least).

A final plus? You won’t offend any low-carb, keto, no-sugar, paleo folks. 

2. Convenience 

No need to spend days wrapping individual grocery store cookies that won’t be eaten, or ordering and designing custom pens that will be thrown away! All you have to do is contact PSNY to hire a Typewriter Poet! We are simply at your fingertips.

3. Pre-written cards are cliché

You can only write or receive “Roses are red” so many times before it just gets old for everybody. Our poets simply write better.

4. You can ditch the creepy clown!

Hey, guess what? Our Typewriter Poets take care of the gift and also double as entertainment, offering a performance for your guests. Think of it like hiring a clown who knows how to make cool animals and swords with balloons but less creepy and more meaningful! And for those of you who really love clowns, we do know quite a few poets who are basically circus people. Also, this:

Clown

BY CHELSEY MINNIS

It seems like I'm growing more and more like a clown. First of all, I'm always sad. Secondly, all my knives are made out of rubber. Thirdly, it's like my house is on fire.

No, I'm definitely becoming more like a clown. I have a tendency to want to put on clown clothes. As soon as I put the clown clothes on I feel faintly happier...

Another sign is that I constantly feel like I'm alone in a dressing room. Most of the time I feel amused. Anyway, the only thing good about the circus is the tigers.

Read the full poem here.

5. People get to see vintage typewriters!

Yes, each poet will be wielding a vintage typewriter. How cool is that? Some of the younger guests may have never even seen one before and might react with totally adorable bewilderment: “Is that a phone???”

Enough said.

WHAT DO JIM MORRISON, ARTHUR RIMBAUD, AND THE 2019 THE NEW YORK CITY POETRY FESTIVAL HAVE IN COMMON?

Happening: The action of happen v.; occurrence (of an event), the fact of taking place.

The very fact of taking place is something to celebrate. To exceed existence or being, but only marginally. To dwell in our edges and crevices: the fold of a page, the frame of a canvas. Here, things happen. They happen because they begin to take on a strange, distinct life of their own, unplanned and voluptuous births seeping forth to make the shape of art. 

We come to happen in various ways, one of which poet Arthur Rimbaud described as a ‘dereglement de tous les sens’. Those moments of total abstraction, of a detachment that verges on the sublime, where sensory distortion leads directly to new ways of seeing reality. For Rimbaud, the temptation of Dionysus’s lusty wine was a path towards his ambitions as a ‘seer’ and fuelled his surreal poetic happenings on the page. 

Years later, another seer of the art world, Jim Morrison, took Rimbaud’s obsession with creating a disjointed present even further. For Morrison, the possibility of the present as occurrence spurred his vision of a bizarre scene in which chemicals would be filtered into a room of people through air vents, turning those people into the essential ‘artist-showman’ that lies latent in all of us. Not only would this scenario produce a show for spectators, but each participant would be a witness to their own capacity for performance: ordinary people become both artist and audience in a spectacular moment of absolute poetic fulfilment. 

Exactly what this looks like, Morrison has to leave to our imagination because his oddly simple plan never quite comes off. If there were such a drug… But its end is clear; he wants to find a substance that will possess us spiritually—all of us— to create the pure experience of art. In his notorious performances with The Doors, Morrison himself would strip naked, posing as a shaman against a myriad of audio effects, whispering lyric as if they had just appeared to him like ghosts that very same instant. Particularly, for me, it was his eerie omission of the final syllable of words that gets closest to reaching inside the potential of a Happening. His sudden exits from a lyric point towards a recognition that words are autonomous, that they are ceaselessly entangled with atmosphere, sound, and the air we collect in, the air that we live off, the air that makes us happen.

Poetry makes things happen. When I interviewed headliner poet Lynn Melnick for the poetry festival, she told me that she writes about '“ancient history”. This fascinating comment spurred my own poetic happening which I hope says something about the kind of place we might try to reach in our artistic experiments:

I write about ancient history. Meaning a childhood of cakes and cameras, of uncles waiting in the wings. And blurred vision, incommunicable hunger and confusion, and the absolute impossibility of choice. Meaning awful teenage years of pathetically flowered wallpaper, and scratched CDs that skip right at the part where the song diffuses into untouchable sounds which radiate around bedrooms and heads and the slender wandering limbs of secret visitors. And the afterglow of youth, the vulnerable-making ambition, the coffee and the car rides home with strangers stronger than you. 

These things are important. These things happened. Our bodies were taken by others and the time has come to recover them. 

But always I can’t help letting the present burst in 

Because it’s so present to me 

Is way beyond experience and atmosphere

It’s an actual body sitting right inside the contours of

Mine and pressing, sometimes bulging, against nerves

And veins and skin and getting right inside all the important organs

Naming them again, re-introducing them to one another

Wanting nothing but giving this well-worded blood, imprinting

It in their invisible, obscure systems, and pushing it

Out of my fingers and mouth: all the incredible, silent, potential of now.

At the New York City Poetry Festival this July 27th and 28th on Governors Island, we’ll be exchanging our opium for a glass of thick, white milk in the Milk Press Gallery for Milk Press’s inaugural Milk Press Happening. Lush and pure, mysterious and natural, artists, including Donna Masini, Joanna Valente, Gregg Emery, and more will be making art in real-time, pushing their way towards another consciousness.

Join us for a moment of poetic reverie.  As Matthew Zapruder writes in Why Poetry, the state of reverie is poetry, and reverie is ‘just beneath the surface of our moment-to-moment existence’ if only we could find its gate. A happening is always underlying the contours of a laid table, a stuffed sofa, the made lives we make for ourselves; the potential is in their undoing.