|
|
|
|
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: HOAGLAND, TONY Matches Found: 183 Hoagland, Tony Poet's Biography 183 poems available by this author A COLOR OF THE SKY Poem Text First Line: Windy today and I feel less than brilliant, Last Line: And making more Subject(s): Male-female Relationships; Conduct Of Life ADAM AND EVE Poem Text First Line: I wanted to punch her right in the mouth and that's the truth. Last Line: As long as there is desire, we will not be safe Subject(s): Male-female Relationships ADAM AND EVE First Line: I wanted to punch her right in the mouth and that's the truth Last Line: As long as there is desire, we will not be safe ADORATION First Line: Standing beside mary at the sales convention Last Line: And poured a cup of purple punch for mary %then I took another one for me Subject(s): Admiration; Lust ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER First Line: I remember the pink, candy-colored lights Last Line: Still flashing, still calling out %like a warning, and a summons AMERICA Poem Text First Line: Then one of the students with blue hair and a tongue stud Last Line: Which turns the volume higher? Subject(s): United States; Materialism; America AMERICA First Line: Then one of the students with blue hair and a tongue stud Last Line: And yet it seems to be your own hand %which turns the volume higher? AND THE MEN Poem Text First Line: Want back in Last Line: Please, they're begging you. Look out Subject(s): Men; Relationships ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? Poem Text First Line: While jimi hendrix played 'purple haze' onstage Subject(s): Hendrix, Jimi (1942-1970) ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? First Line: While jimi hendrix played 'purple haze' onstage Last Line: Would itself become %a kind of credential Subject(s): Hendrix, Jimi (1942-1970) ARGENTINA First Line: What I notice today is the aroma of my chiropractor's breath Last Line: Looks almost new again ARROWS Poem Text First Line: When a beautiful woman wakes up Last Line: And nothing that I did or that was done to me, / was ever real Subject(s): Health ARROWS First Line: When a beautiful woman wakes up Last Line: And nothing that I did or that was done to me, was ever real ASTROLOGY Poem Text First Line: It's so clear tonight, and calm Last Line: Our own interpretation Subject(s): Memory ASTROLOGY First Line: It's so clear tonight, and calm, Last Line: Our own interpretation. AT THE GALLERIA SHOPPING MALL Poem Text First Line: Just past the bin of pastel baby socks and underwear Last Line: To learn something about loneliness Subject(s): Shopping; Solitude AUDEN First Line: Nicotine, caffeine, amphetamine - these Subject(s): Drugs & Drug Abuse; Narcotics; Opium; Cocaine; Crack; Heroin AUDEN First Line: Nicotine, caffeine, amphetamine - these Last Line: Nicotine, caffeine, and amphetamine Subject(s): Drugs And Drug Abuse BADGE First Line: After the sun has touched up the entire western sky Last Line: Without being happy or unhappy, %without knowing how or why BARTON SPRINGS Poem Text Recitation First Line: Oh life, how I loved your cold spring mornings of putting my stuff in Last Line: There just might be time to catch up on praise Subject(s): Springs (water); Swimming And Swimmers; Cancer (disease) BEAUTY Poem Text First Line: When the medication she was taking Last Line: That, too, was beautiful Subject(s): Beauty; Brotherds And Sisters; Aging; Transience; Impermanence BEAUTY First Line: When the medication she was taking Last Line: That, too, was beautiful BECAUSE YOU ARE WEAK YOU MUST BE STRONG First Line: Laid out on her back porch at noon, the neighbor woman Last Line: Each grain of wood and clay and waterdrop, %with useful heat BENEVOLENCE First Line: When my father dies and comes back as a dog Last Line: That it was love he held concealed in his closed hand BIRD THAT FLIES First Line: To be a bird, and have your consciousness Last Line: And the air sharpens and enlarges in the clumps of leaves. %and the soul flies about unitl the bus a BRAVE WORLD First Line: But what about the courage Last Line: Coming from the shadows %of any brave new world CANDLELIGHT Poem Text First Line: Crossing the porch in the hazy dusk Last Line: Had granted its permission Subject(s): Dinners & Dining; Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives CANDLELIGHT First Line: Crossing the porch in the hazy dusk Last Line: As if the elephant %had granted its permission CARNAL KNOWLEDGE First Line: The night your girlfriend Last Line: As someone does who has been changed %by a single unexpected drop of life CATECHISM FOR NOVEMBER First Line: In the movie theatre one night, you whispered Last Line: Where did you think you were going? CEMENT TRUCK Poem Text First Line: I wanted to get the cement truck into the poem Last Line: I wonder what that one does? Subject(s): Cement Trucks CHANGE IN PLANS First Line: It's tiring, this endless revision Last Line: Their appetites had change. %but they kept on flying CHILDHOOD UNDER THE TREES First Line: We say we are trapped in a life Last Line: And with every intention %of getting it all kissed off later Subject(s): Change; Children; Memory COLLABORATION First Line: That was the summer I used the duino elegies Last Line: For two arms full %of beautiful, confusing art Subject(s): Collaboration COLOR OF THE SKY First Line: Windy today and I feel less than brilliant Last Line: And throwing it away, %and making more COMMERCIAL FOR A SUMMER NIGHT First Line: That one night in the middle of the summer Last Line: Far out from the coastline of america %in a perfect commercial for our lives CONFESSIONAL MODE First Line: I wish somebody would take a razor Last Line: A little bit more ruthless, old %and capable of eating anything CRY ME A RIVER First Line: Once upon a time there were five brothers Last Line: And that was the world's first country-western song DELAY First Line: I should walk up the stairs right now Last Line: And then I think this ordinariness %will crush in its fist. %and then I wish it would DEMOLITION Recitation by Author First Line: They hang a big tube from the side of an office building Subject(s): Construction Sites; Men; Realism DICKHEAD Poem Text First Line: To whomever taught me the word dickhead Last Line: I made a word my friend Subject(s): Men DICKHEAD First Line: To whomever taught me the word dickhead Last Line: I made a word my friend DISAPPOINTMENT Poem Text First Line: I was feeling pretty religious Last Line: Lifting in the wind Subject(s): Disappointment DISAPPOINTMENT First Line: I was feeling pretty religious %standing on the bridge in my winter coat Last Line: With your scarf of resignation %lifting in the wind DOING THIS First Line: I'm driving back and forth DON'T TELL ANYONE Poem Text First Line: We had been married for six or seven years Last Line: That will never be read by anyone Subject(s): Swimming And Swimmers DOWRY First Line: You could say that they have talent Last Line: Of beauty, just %beauty and the light for friends DRUNK First Line: I open the letter Last Line: Where it turns my actual life %into a smoking slag Subject(s): Drinks And Drinking; Letters; Sex DUCKS First Line: A pair of fat, iridescent ducks Last Line: Like you, they have a motive, %they have an opportunity EASTER First Line: The earth is feeble at winter's end ECOLOGY First Line: Mike moved to the city Last Line: Now, how will you imagine your way out of this EMBARRASSMENT First Line: The high school latin teacher Last Line: That to be the spoon, %and hiding it EMIGRATION Poem Text First Line: Try being sick for a year Last Line: And you are travelling Subject(s): Sickness; Illness EMIGRATION First Line: Try being sick for a year Last Line: Your bags are packed %and you are travelling ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ETHERS First Line: Eighteen kinds of mist in this country Last Line: Deep in the book of novembers FIRE First Line: Farmhouse burning by the freeway Last Line: Flavors %on your tongue, in your mouth, %which some would say is full of ashes FRED HAD WATCHED A LOT OF KUNG FU EPISODES First Line: So when the policeman asked Last Line: Under the spreading lotus trees on walnut street, %feeling oriental FROM THIS HEIGHT Poem Text First Line: Cold wind comes out of the white hills Last Line: Not to enjoy Subject(s): Social Commentary; Time FROM THIS HEIGHT First Line: Cold wind comes out of the white hills Last Line: It would be a sin %not to enjoy GAME Poem Text First Line: On thursday nights in spring Last Line: And the unmowed field is foaming at the mouth with flowers Subject(s): Games; Spring; Recreation; Pastimes; Amusements GAME First Line: On thursday nights in spring Last Line: And the unmowed field is foaming at the mouth with flowers Subject(s): Games; Spring GEOGRAPHY First Line: For the last few seconds now Last Line: And the whole world %moves away from you GIFT OF FIRE First Line: The white polystyrene filter Last Line: Was and is %the gift of fire GRAMMAR OF SPARROWS First Line: The sparrows are a kind of people Last Line: Lying low like an understanding GREED Poem Text First Line: Painted on a wall on 20th and grant—just the word Last Line: Greed, said calmly, without inflection Subject(s): Greed; Avarice; Cupidity HARD RAIN Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: After I heard it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Last Line: As I was walking through the springdale mall Subject(s): Materialism HEARINGS First Line: Autumn, and the trees decide again they don't need leaves Last Line: So many seahorses, %galloping through bubbles HERE IN BERKELEY First Line: The jogger with the rastafarian sweats Last Line: Like you are walking through the sunshine %singing %in chains HISTORY OF DESIRE Poem Text First Line: When you're seventeen, and drunk Last Line: In the name of doris, stop Subject(s): Desire HISTORY OF DESIRE First Line: When you're seventeen, and drunk HONDA PAVAROTTI First Line: I'm driving on the dark highway Last Line: Or fall in love with it forever HOSTESS Poem Text First Line: All I remember from that party Last Line: Which I hope no one had seen Subject(s): Clothing & Dress HOW IT ADDS UP Poem Text First Line: There was the day we swam in a river, a lake, and an ocean. Last Line: Of a crazy song Subject(s): Conduct Of Life; Disappointment HOW IT ADDS UP First Line: There was the day we swam in a river, a lake, and an ocean Last Line: Right behind you, the footprints you are leaving %will look like notes of a crazy song I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU Poem Text First Line: There are people who do not see a broken playground swing Last Line: And let it touch them all over their faces and bodies Subject(s): Carpe Diem ILLNESS AND ITS METAPHORS First Line: One day she said she would never again Last Line: Signing its song %into the light of the world IMPOSSIBLE DREAM First Line: In delaware a congressman %accused of sexual misconduct Last Line: As if getting the song right %were the impossible dream IN GRATITUDE OF TALK First Line: The blue-grey steeples of the pine Last Line: Or had chosen their indifference. %but now the silence has a different shape IN PRAISE OF THEIR DIVORCE Poem Text First Line: And when I heard about the divorce of my friends Last Line: He bystanders pointing at the sky and saying, look Subject(s): Divorce IN THE LAND OF LOTUS EATERS First Line: What was the name of that bronze-headed stud Last Line: And the name of the one in charge was forgotten. %and the boat sailed on without a captain INDIA First Line: Karen was still in india in 1980 Last Line: While peoople climb all over it, %singing and crying and scrubbing Subject(s): India JASON THE REAL Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: If I was a real guy Last Line: That is how one earns a name / like jason the real Subject(s): Friendship; Pain; Reality JET Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Sometimes I wish I were still out Last Line: We would give anything for what we have Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Wine JET First Line: Sometimes I wish I were still out Last Line: We would give anything for what we have JUST SPRING First Line: The teenage boys who broke into Last Line: Suffering mother of god. Sweet jesus KIND OF SHADOW THAT CALLS OUT FATE First Line: Early in day reports said our planes Last Line: And thoughtfully, the queen watches Subject(s): Politics; War LAWRENCE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: On two occasions in the past twelve months Last Line: As to make us seem magnificent Subject(s): Lawrence, David Herbert (1885-1930) LAWRENCE First Line: On two occasions in the past twelve months Last Line: As to make us seem magnificent LIE DOWN WITH A MAN Poem Text First Line: In those days I thought I had to Last Line: Two things I was afraid of Subject(s): Men; Sex; Fear LIE DOWN WITH A MAN First Line: In those days I thought I had to Last Line: Two things I was afraid of LOVE OF LEARNING First Line: He knows it is absurd LUCKY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: If you are lucky in this life, Last Line: And sweet is sweet in any language Subject(s): Luck; Mothers & Sons LUCKY First Line: If you are lucky in this life Last Line: And sweet is sweet in any language MAN CARRYING SOFA First Line: Whatever happened to cindy morrison, that nice young lesbian? Last Line: Then you stop, and rest on top of it MEDICINE First Line: The black hair of my chinese doctor Last Line: Of being strong again MEMORY AS A HEARING AID Poem Text First Line: Somewhere, someone is asking a question, Last Line: And everybody passes Subject(s): Memory; Aging MEMORY AS A HEARING AID First Line: Somewhere, someone is asking a question Last Line: And everybody passes MEN AND WOMEN First Line: I don't understand why this woman MIGRATION Poem Text First Line: This year marie drives back and forth Last Line: Like the holy ghost that it is Subject(s): Conduct Of Life; Death; Adoption; Dead, The MIGRATION First Line: This year marie drives back and forth Last Line: Like the holy ghost that it is MIRACLE First Line: Every now and then a fishing pole MISSION First Line: When I remember susan, she is always Last Line: With my breathless mouth MISTAKEN IDENTITY First Line: I thought I saw my mother Last Line: As if I were looking for someone else MUY MACHO First Line: I can't believe I'm sitting here Last Line: We don't really believe %there is another one MY COUNTRY First Line: When I think of what I know about america Last Line: And who would ever be brave, or lonely, %or free enough to ask? NEWS First Line: The big country beat the little country up Last Line: Rose, without which %you have no reason to live NOTE TO REALITY Poem Text First Line: Without even knowing it, I have Last Line: Makes the mourners salivate against their will Subject(s): Death; Dead, The NOVEMBER LIFE First Line: November like a train wreck Last Line: Into the land of my enemies OH MERCY First Line: Only the billionth person Last Line: Looking for kindness %that would make revenge unnecessary ON STANDING ALONE First Line: There are reasons, maybe ON THE CD I BUY FOR MY BROTHER First Line: A forlorn guy with a guitar issues bulletins Last Line: And the sunsets are breaking their old records for beauty ONE SEASON First Line: That was the summer my best friend Last Line: As if they were the only %goddamn thing worth living for PARADISE First Line: When my dear zooms off Last Line: All dark forebodings %that pleasure forbids PERPETUAL MOTION First Line: In a little while I'll be drifting up an on-ramp Last Line: Here where the desire to vanish %is stronger than the desire to appear PERSONAL Poem Text First Line: Don’t take it personal, they said Last Line: To take it personal too Subject(s): Conduct Of Life PHONE CALL First Line: Maybe I overdid it %when I called my father an enemy of humanity Last Line: They once touched like a child POEM FOR MEN ONLY Poem Text First Line: It wasn't easy, inventing the wheel Subject(s): Men POEM FOR MEN ONLY First Line: It wasn't easy, inventing the wheel Last Line: Go back to the beginning. Think about it. %take, if you like, all day Subject(s): Men POEM IN WHICH I MAKE THE MISTAKE OF COMPARING BILLIE HOLLIDAY TO A ... First Line: We were driving back from the record store at the mall Last Line: As if to say, shut up and listen PROCEDURE First Line: That was an intimate moment %when the dental hygienist Last Line: That's when we'll see %what the soul is made of PROPERLY First Line: Look at this woman, properly Last Line: So that history might %lie down and be made PROUD First Line: Like those crazy babylonians, who raised a tower QUESTION First Line: Some questions have no answer Last Line: He liked to see them catch it, %and grow immediatly less strange Subject(s): Loss QUIET Poem Text First Line: Prolonged exposure to death Last Line: Everything else is better Subject(s): Aging RAMAYANA First Line: I was reading the hindu epic the ramayana Last Line: Into a swimming pool of blue RAP MUSIC Poem Text First Line: Twenty-six men trapped in a submarine Last Line: Or actually mentioned and entered Subject(s): Rap Music READING MOBY-DICK AT 30,000 FEET Poem Text First Line: At this height, kansas / is just a concept Last Line: Where are we going now? Subject(s): Air Travel READING MOBY-DICK AT 30,000 FEET First Line: At this height, kansas %is just a concept Last Line: Oh captain, captain! %where are we going now? Subject(s): Air Travel REASONS TO SURVIVE NOVEMBER Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: November like a train wreck— Last Line: Into the land of my enemies Subject(s): Resilience; November REPLACEMENT First Line: And across the country I know Last Line: Turn him over to the world REQUESTS FOR A TOY PIANO Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Play the one about the family of the ducks Last Line: Not even flowers can remember Subject(s): Pianos; Poetry & Poets RESEARCH First Line: That summer, vietnam was heating up Last Line: Over the perfume of burning flesh RISING AND FALLING First Line: No man has ever survived intercourse with angels ROMANTIC MOMENTS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: After the nature documentary we walk down Last Line: To get some ice cream cones and eat them Subject(s): Romance; Animals SAFEWAY Poem Text First Line: Even after an hour in her room Last Line: From what couldn't be saved Subject(s): Sickness; Mothers; Illness SAFEWAY First Line: Even after an hour in her room Last Line: Trying to protect %what didn't need protecting %from what couldn't be saves SECOND NATURE First Line: I must be enjoying my sixth or seventh life by now Last Line: He could be fashioned in the image of? %what handiwork of what mad scientist? SELF-IMPROVEMENT First Line: Just before she flew off like a swan Last Line: Streetlights deliriously flicker SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION Poem Text First Line: And when we were eight, or nine, Last Line: Down into the belly of the world Subject(s): Fathers & Sons; Conduct Of Life; Disappointment SKYSCRAPERS FEELING First Line: Because she's crying in their sleep, cheeks wet Last Line: Looking up at all those storied rising towers %and all those rooms of light SMOKE First Line: God, it is good to wake Last Line: But it is beautiful, %and it is inexplicable, %and it is good SPRING LEMONADE Poem Text First Line: In late april they spread manure on the fields Last Line: Something none of us had ever imagined Subject(s): Spring; Luck SPRING LEMONADE First Line: In late april they spread manure on the fields Last Line: Something none of us had ever imagined STILL LIFE First Line: The french have it wrong, said larry Last Line: He tipped back, carefully, in his chair SUMMER IN A SMALL TOWN Poem Text First Line: Yes, the young mothers are beautiful Last Line: Now. Steal pleasure Subject(s): City & Town Life SUMMER NIGHT First Line: The one night in the middle of the summer Last Line: While through the open window %comes the smell of flowers SWEET RUIN First Line: Maybe that is what he was after Last Line: There was always the desire. %always the cloud, suddenly present %and willing to oblige TATTOO First Line: They guy down the table at the aa meeting Last Line: But with a kind of will, %like medicine Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism; Life TEACHER LISTENS TO THE PAST First Line: Somewhere, someone is asking a question Last Line: With a beautiful belief in answers %is still asking questions TEXACO Poem Text First Line: The nozzle of the gas pump Last Line: From some strange thirst Subject(s): Automobiles - Service Stations; Gasoline Stations; Filling Stations; Automobile Repair Shops THE CHANGE Poem Text Recitation First Line: The season turned like the page of a glossy fashion magazine. Last Line: And we were changed Subject(s): Tennis; Race Relations; Racial Equality THE COLLABORATION Poem Text First Line: That was the summer I used the duino elegies Subject(s): Collaboration THE HEALING PROFESSION Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The nurses and orderlies from the hospital Last Line: And zero calorie sugar has been stirred Subject(s): Nurses THE KIND OF SHADOW THAT CALLS OUT FATE Poem Text First Line: Early in day reports said our planes Subject(s): Politics & Government; War THE LONELIEST JOB IN THE WORLD Poem Text First Line: As soon as you begin to ask the question, who loves me? Last Line: No one knows why Subject(s): Love THE MIRACLE Poem Text First Line: Every now and then a fishing pole Last Line: Reached up his arm as if asking Subject(s): Fish & Fishing; Ambition; Death; Anglers; Dead, The THE QUESTION Poem Text First Line: Some questions have no answer Subject(s): Loss THE REPLACEMENT Poem Text First Line: And across the country I know Last Line: Turn him over to the world Subject(s): Brothers & Sisters THE WORD Poem Text First Line: Down near the bottom Last Line: To sit out in the sun and listen Subject(s): Love THERE IS NO WORD Poem Text First Line: There isn’t a word for walking out of the grocery store Last Line: I have willingly poured into it Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary THRESHOLD First Line: When I see the thick blue cable of a vein Last Line: As if mortality %were a kind of fancy french perfume TIME WARS First Line: It was the winter we ate a lot of oatmeal to stay warm Last Line: Covered with fingerprints and kisses TIMES SQUARE First Line: Baby, it's cold outside Last Line: Still cry out hot hot hot ! TOTALLY First Line: I'm raking leaves and singing in my off-key voice Last Line: That I am going to be born TRAVELLERS Poem Text First Line: In the coffee shops and restaurants Subject(s): Restaurants; Cafes; Diners TRAVELLERS First Line: In the coffee shops and restaurants Last Line: Where all of us are strangers Subject(s): Restaurants TWO SHADES OF ORANGE First Line: It must be something like a bouquet for him Last Line: When we avert our eyes %from one another's %souls, %as the very hungry will TWO TRAINS First Line: Then there was that song called two trains running Last Line: Motherless and vertical in the middle of everything VOLUNTEER Poem Text First Line: Now is not the moment Last Line: Belonged to joy Subject(s): Past VOLUNTEER First Line: This is not the moment Last Line: Or as if part of our resposibility %belonged to joy VOYAGE Poem Text First Line: I feel as if we opened a book about great ocean voyages Last Line: That was our marvelous punishment Subject(s): Sea Voyages VOYAGE First Line: I feel as if we opened a book about great ocean voyages Last Line: That was our marvelous punishment WASTEFUL GESTURE ONLY NOT Poem Text First Line: Ruth visits her mother’s grave in the california hills Last Line: That’s what going to sleep is like Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters WHAT NARCISSISM MEANS TO ME First Line: There's socialism and communism and capitalism %said neal Last Line: Of daily life, %love lies bleeding WHEN DEAN YOUNG TASTES WINE First Line: The worm thrashes when it enters the tequila Last Line: Staring into nothing %as if he was forming an opinion WHY ARE YOUNG MEN SO UGLY Poem Text First Line: They have little tractors in their blood Last Line: Look like a disease Subject(s): Men WHY WE WENT AND WHAT WE FOUND First Line: We will find the grail Last Line: Or rather, never sad in the same way WILD Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: In late august when the streams dry up Last Line: The point where you feel road rage or checkout line rage or now-you've-made-a-mess rage? Aauurgh! Subject(s): Bears WINDCHIME Poem Text First Line: She goes out to hang the windchime Subject(s): Marriage; Wind; Weddings; Husbands; Wives WINDCHIME First Line: She goes out to hang the windchime Last Line: The problem scrunched into her forehead; %the little kissable mouth %with the nail in it Subject(s): Marriage; Wind WORD First Line: Down near the bottom Last Line: Who can find the time %to sit out in the sun and listen YOU'RE THE TOP Poem Text First Line: Of all the people that I've ever known Last Line: Bright and beautiful and useless Subject(s): Grandparents; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers YOU'RE THE TOP First Line: Of all the people that I've ever known Last Line: Suspended in a lyric by cole porter, %bright and beautiful and useless |
|