Paul Beatty: “Dib Dab” from Joker, Joker, Deuce by Paul Beatty, copyright © 1994 by Paul Beatty. Reprinted by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc. “Aa Bb Cc… Xx Yy and Zzing” and “At Ease” by Paul Beatty, copyright by Paul Beatty. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Richard Blanco: “Décima Guajira,” “Photo Shop,” and “The Silver Sands” from City of a Hundred Fires by Richard Blanco, copyright © 1998 by Richard Blanco. Reprinted by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Philip Booth: “Hope,” “First Lesson,” and “Evening” by Philip Booth. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Joseph Brodsky: “A Song,” “Blues,” and “Törnfallet” from Collected Poems in English by Joseph Brodsky, copyright © 2000 by the Estate of Joseph Brodsky. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
Lorna Dee Cervantes: “Bananas” by Lorna Dee Cervantes, copyright by Lorna Dee Cervantes. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Marilyn Chin: “The Floral Apron” and “Song of the Sad Guitar” from The Phoenix Gon, The Terrace Empty by Marilyn Chin, copyright © 1994 by Marilyn Chin. Reprinted by permission of Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis. “Rhapsody in Plain Yellow” from Rhapsody in Plain Yellow by Marilyn Chin, copyright © 2002 by Marilyn Chin. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Lucille Clifton: “sam,” “june 20,” and “daughters” from The Book of Light by Lucille Clifton, copyright © 1993 by Lucille Clifton. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271.
“homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton, copyright © 1980, 1987 by Lucille Clifton. Originally appeared in Two-Headed Woman, published by The University of Massachusetts Press, 1980; now appears in Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980, published by BOA Editions, Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Jane Cooper: “The Blue Anchor” and “Rent” from The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed by Jane Cooper, copyright © 2000 by Jane Cooper. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill: “Nude” and “The Race” from Pharaoh's Daughter by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, copyright © 1993 by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill. Reprinted by permission of Wake Forest University Press.
Diane Di Prima: “April Fool Birthday Poem for Grandpa” copyright 1971 and 1990 by Diane Di Prima. “Ode to Elegance” copyright 1972 and 1990 by Diane Di Prima. Printed by permission. All rights reserved.
Denise Duhamel: “Hippie Barbie,” “Barbie Joins a Twelve Step Program,” and “Buddhist Barbie” from Kinky by Denise Duhamel, copyright © 1997 by Denise Duhamel. Reprinted by permission of Orchises Press and the author.
Russell Edson: “On the Eating of Mice,” “Counting Sheep,” “Antimatter,” and “The Fall” from The Tunnel: Selected Poems by Russell Edson, FIELD Poetry Series v. 3, Oberlin, OH, Oberlin College Press, copyright © 1994 by Oberlin College. Reprinted by permission of Oberlin College Press and the author.
Amy Gerstler: “Modern Madonnas” and “My Muse” from Nerve Storm by Amy Gerstler, copyright © 1993 by Amy Gerstler. “Her Account of Herself” from Crown of Weeds by Amy Gerstler, copyright © 1997 by Amy Gerstler. Reprinted by permission of Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
Jack Gilbert: “Tear It Down,” “Almost Happy,” “Married,” and “The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart” from The Great Fires Poems 1982-1992 by Jack Gilbert, copyright © 1994 by Jack Gilbert. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Albert Goldbarth: “Coinages: A Fairy Tale” from Beyond by Albert Goldbarth, copyright © 1998 by Albert Goldbarth (David R. Godine, Publisher). Reprinted by permission of the author. “How Easy It Is” from The Gods by Albert Goldbarth, copyright © 1993 by the Ohio State University Press. Reprinted by permission of Ohio State University Press and the author. “An Explanation” from Heaven and Earth: A Cosmology by Albert Goldbarth, copyright © 1991 by Albert Goldbarth. Reprinted by permission of The University of Georgia Press and the author.
Yusef Komunyakaa: “Venus's-flytraps” from Magic City by Yusef Komun-yakaa, copyright © 1992 by Yusef Komunyakaa. “Anodyne” and “The Deck” from Thieves of Paradise by Yusef Komunyakaa, copyright © 1998 by Yusef Komunyakaa. Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press.
David Lehman: “January 1,” “March 16,” “April 26,” “August 31,” and “December 29” from The Evening Sun by David Lehman, copyright © 2002 by David Lehman. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Carrie Allen McCray: “Thoughts at the Grave Site,” “Strange Patterns,” “Two Ways to Cook Macaroni and Cheese for Pastor,” “Trade Off,” and “Anemone” by Carrie Allen McCray, copyright by Carrie Allen McCray. “Anemone” was first published in The South Carolinian Collection, the first anthology of The South Carolina Writers Workshop (1991). “Thoughts at the Grave Site,” “Strange Patterns,” and “Trade Off” from Piece of Time by Carrie Allen McCray, Chicory Blue Press.
Campbell McGrath: “The Golden Angel Pancake House” and “Delphos, Ohio” from Spring Comes to Chicago. The Ecco Press 1996. Copyright by Campbell McGrath. “The Gulf” and “Capitalist Poem #42” from Road Atlas. The Ecco Press. Copyright by Campbell McGrath.
Heather McHugh: “The Size of Spokane,” “What He Thought,” “Unguent,” and “High Jinx” from Hinge & Sign by Heather McHugh, copyright © 1994 by Heather McHugh. Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press and the author.
Czeslaw Milosz: “Preparation,” “A Song on the End of the World,” and “In Common” by Czeslaw Milosz, copyright © by Czeslaw Milosz. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, Inc.
Paul Muldoon: “The Birth,” “Anseo,” and “The Briefcase” from Poems 1968-1998 by Paul Muldoon, copyright © 2001 by Paul Muldoon. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
Naomi Shihab Nye: “My Friend's Divorce,” “Going for Peaches, Fredericksburg, Texas,” and “Wedding Cake” by Naomi Shihab Nye, 2002. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Lucia Perillo: “Compulsory Travel” and “Lost Innocence of the Potato Givers” by Lucia Perillo. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Wang Ping: “No Sense of Direction,” “Of Flesh & Spirit,” and “These Images” from Of Flesh & Spirit by Wang Ping, copyright © 1998 by Wang Ping. Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press, Minneapolis.
Hal Sirowitz: “Two Visits in One Day,” “Horns on Your Head,” “Crumbs,” and “Word Power” from Mother Said by Hal Sirowitz (Crown Publishers, 1996). Reprinted by permission of the Joy Harris Literay Agency and the author.
Elizabeth Spires: “Easter Sunday, 1955” and “On the Island” from Worldling by Elizabeth Spires, copyright © 1995 by Elizabeth Spires (W. W Norton & Company, Inc.). Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., and the author.
Maura Stanton: “Gifts” from Glacier Wine by Maura Stanton, copyright © 2001 by Maura Stanton. Reprinted by permission of Carnegie Mellon University Press and the author. “Childhood” and “Maple Tree” from Cries of Swimmers by Maura Stanton (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1991). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Quincy Troupe: “Flight” and “Eye Change Dreams” from Avalanche by Quincy Troupe, copyright © 1996 by Quincy Troupe (Coffee House Press, Minneapolis) and from Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems by Quincy Troupe, copyright © 2002 (Coffee House Press, Minneapolis). Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, and the author.
Belle Waring: “It Was My First Nursing Job” and “So Get Over It, Honey” from Dark Blonde by Belle Waring, copyright © 1997 by Belle Waring. Reprinted by permission of Sarabande Books, Inc., and the author.
Charles Harper Webb: “The New Marriage” from Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies by Charles Harper Webb, copyright © 2001 by Charles Harper Webb (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2001). “Tone of Voice” from Liver by Charles Harper Webb, copyright © 1999 University of Wisconsin System, Board of Regents (University of Wisconisn Press, 1999). “Buyer's Remorse” from Reading the Water by Charles Harper Webb, copyright © 1997 by Charles Harper Webb (Northeastern University, 1997).
C. D. Wright: “Everything Good Between Men and Women” and “Song of the Gourd” from Steal Away: Selected and New Poems by C. D. Wright (Copper Canyon Press, 2002). First appeared in Tremble: Poems (The Ecco Press, 1996).
Kevin Young: “[Blues]” by Kevin Young, copyright © 2002 by Kevin Young. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Eddie Priest's Barbershop & Notary” from Most Way Home by Kevin Young, copyright © 1995 by Kevin Young, and “Negative” from To Repel Ghosts by Kevin Young, copyright © 2001 by Kevin Young. Reprinted by permission of Zoland Books.