Poetry Explorer

Search Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Search Results

Back to search

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Searching...
Subject: CITIES
Matches Found: 1177

UPDATE command denied to user 'poetryex_users'@'localhost' for table `poetryex_poems`.`subcnt` #2, SHOES, by ELIZABETH KRAJECK COHEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You could cry
Last Line: They are getting somewhere
Subject(s): Cities


3 DAY NEW YORK BLUES, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's tuesday night
Last Line: Hopping skippin jumpin flyin %back home to me
Subject(s): Cities


50, by NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down the long avenues the north wind
Last Line: Begins to fall, and places it - heavy %as marble suddenly - behind his head
Subject(s): Cities


5:00 PM, EASTERN STANDARD TIME, NOVEMBER, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nothing opposes
Last Line: Such a meager beacon
Subject(s): Cities


64 PANORAMIC WAY, by CAROL MOLDAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Like easy conversation
Last Line: Three bridges and san francisco %shrugging off her damp negligee
Subject(s): Cities; San Francisco


74TH STREET, by MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey, this little kid gets roller skates
Last Line: Sticks out the other foot %again
Subject(s): Cities


A BALLAD UPON A WEDDING, by JOHN SUCKLING    Poem Text     Poem Explanation             Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: I tell thee, dick, where I have been
Last Line: With bridget and with nell.
Variant Title(s): A Wedding
Subject(s): Cities; Love; Marriage; Wedding Song; Urban Life; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Epithalamium


A BUSY STREET, by ANNETTE WYNNE    Poem Text                    
First Line: All up and down the busy street
Last Line: And that is why they hurry so.
Subject(s): Cities; Collective Behavior; February; Streets; Traffic; Urban Life; Mobs; Crowds; Avenues


A CITY DWELLER, by JACQUES REDA    Poem Text                    
First Line: The street I walk along I often see
Last Line: Magazine.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A CITY ECLOGUE, by W." "J. [PSEUD.]    Poem Text                    
First Line: "'twas sunday morning, quite serene the air"
Last Line: "let us poor cits do whatsoever we may, / our headstrong spouses still will have their way!"
Alternate Author Name(s): "j., W.;
Subject(s): Cities;marriage;old Age; Urban Life;weddings;husbands;wives


A CITY FLOWER, by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To and fro in the city I go
Last Line: That had settled over my heart.
Alternate Author Name(s): Dobson, Austin
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A CITY GARDEN, by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hid in a close and lowly nook
Last Line: God grant some day your dreams come true.
Subject(s): Cities; Gardens & Gardening; Urban Life


A CITY GARDEN, by ARTHUR GUITERMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sun-warmed, where hudson meets the sea
Last Line: My suzeraine -- the faery queen.
Subject(s): Cities; Fairies; Gardens & Gardening; New York City - Colonial Period; Urban Life; Elves


A CITY VOICE, by THEODOSIA (PICKERING) GARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Outside here in the city the burning pavements lie
Last Line: And god's green trees and god's blue skies above me for a space.
Alternate Author Name(s): Faulks, Frederick J., Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Nature; Urban Life


A DAY IN THE CITY, by DAVID WAGONER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dismounting from stools and benches, pouring through bars
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A HILL OF BEANS, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: One spring the circus gave
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A LAZY THOUGHT, by EVE MERRIAM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There go the grownups
Alternate Author Name(s): Moskovitz, Eva
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A LEGEND OF THE MOON, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Nightlong I yearned so madly toward the moon
Last Line: Of moons and mortals and of olden days.
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Earth; Legends; Life; Mankind; Moon; Urban Life; Dead, The; World; Human Race


A MAN AGAINST TIME, by WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Names of vast cities off beyond your years
Last Line: But for my faith in my abandoned peers.
Subject(s): Cities; Sonnet (as Literary Form); Urban Life


A MUNICIPAL REPORT; DEDICATION TO 'THE SEVEN SEAS', by RUDYARD KIPLING    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The cities are full of pride
Last Line: And mine I hold at her hands!
Variant Title(s): To The City Of Bombay
Subject(s): Bombay, India; Cities; Urban Life


A NOCTURNE AT GREENWICH, by VICTOR GUSTAVE PLARR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Far out, beyond my window, in the gloom
Last Line: Out yonder in the gloom.
Subject(s): Cities; Night; Rivers; Ships & Shipping; Urban Life; Bedtime


A REMOVAL FROM TERRY STREET, by DOUGLAS DUNN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On a squeaking cart, they push the usual stuff
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A STRANGE CITY, by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis            
First Line: A wondrous city, that had temples there
Last Line: As I do now, in these dear months I love.
Alternate Author Name(s): Davies, W. H.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A STREET, by JAMES STEPHENS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Two narrow files of houses scowl
Last Line: The sweetness here of any rose.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A STREET SCENE, by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The east is a clear violet mass
Last Line: Turns back, and looks again.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by ALFRED DENNIS GODLEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The rhone and rhine they run so free
Last Line: My mortal part in hampton gay!
Alternate Author Name(s): Godley, A. D.
Subject(s): Cities; Oxford University; Urban Life


A'VITO, by LOREN KLEINMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now, as I move
Last Line: Why do the trees conceal %their splendor?
Subject(s): Cities; Moving And Movers; Travel


AARON LOUDERMILK (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Figured on droppin' outta school
Last Line: And a whole lotta cows.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AARON LOUDERMILK (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My father and I have never talked much
Last Line: I'd like to show him my farm
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AARON LOUDERMILK: MICHAEL PERRIN, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Great dance, wasn't it?
Last Line: I got some beer in my truck %you drink?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ABANDONED CITIES: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY, by JACK ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Back of the adobe haciendas are reed huts
Last Line: Moltavis rock which stands in the square below
Subject(s): Cities; Paraguay


ABANDONED CITIES: BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, by JACK ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: There are no suburbs
Last Line: Trooper's headlights vanish down highway 27
Subject(s): Cities; North Dakota


ABANDONED CITIES: ECBATANA, IRAN, by JACK ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: There are two cities here, neither of which exists
Last Line: Your way home victorious from the battle of moltavis rock
Subject(s): Cities; Lithuania


ABANDONED CITIES: KAUNAS, LITHUANIA, by JACK ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The walls and windowpanes are so clean people forget they are there
Last Line: And I went home with her and paid her hamdsomely
Subject(s): Cities; Lithuania


ABOUT CITIES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: About cities
Last Line: You loved %in them
Subject(s): Cities


ACROSS THE CITY, by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE    Poem Text                    
First Line: I stood upon a dizzy roof which towered
Last Line: Reveals but mounds of vanished majesty.
Subject(s): Cities; Streets; Urban Life; Avenues


AD ASTRA: 33, by CHARLES WHITWORTH WYNNE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Then cities shall arise, both sweet and fair
Last Line: Health the handmaid of peace and child of love.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cayzer, Charles
Subject(s): Cities; Environment; Health; Urban Life; Environmental Protection; Ecology; Conservation


ADULTERY -- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN 1996, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is the way they died for love
Last Line: Is the edge %in the curve
Subject(s): Cities


ADVICE TO A CITY, by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O city, cage your poets! Hem them in
Last Line: The savage, sweet, unpalatable truth!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hall, Galway
Subject(s): Cities; Hearts; Poetry & Poets; Urban Life


AEROGRAMMES, by RUSSELL CHARLES LEONG    Poem Source                    
First Line: Par avion via airmail
Last Line: Of the next %immutable %aerogramme
Subject(s): Aviation And Aviators; China; Cities; Travel


AFTER A CITY WINTER, by HANIEL (CLARK) LONG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hill tops are forms of silence
Last Line: And the blue curve of a wing.
Subject(s): Cities; Winter; Urban Life


AFTER HOURS, by NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER    Poem Source                    
First Line: The man who mops the floor of the lunchonette
Last Line: The subway on which his heavy boots do not make a sound
Subject(s): Cities


AFTER THE 11TH, by BRENDA COULTAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Were they ever visible from this street? Does it matter if I say they
Last Line: President and a flag (november 7, 2001)
Subject(s): Cities


AFTER THE NEWSCAST, by ANSELM HOLLO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Past tribal heart's rusty twists
Last Line: It's time
Subject(s): Cities; Democracy; News; Urban Life


AFTER THE VERDICT, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: When the verdict was read
Last Line: Flashing their blood-stained %teeth %in the photos %of lynchings
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


AFTERTUNE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've been alive since thirty-four
Last Line: And singing %and singing
Subject(s): Cities


AIN'T THIS PLACE A BITCH?, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They have nothing better to do
Last Line: & abduct homeless people %from shopping malls!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


AIR-CONDITIONED AIR, by DEBORA GREGER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Of windows closing on muslin curtains
Last Line: Of water through the earthly dark %over the old slave route
Subject(s): Cities


ALAN ZIEGEL, TEACHER, TOWER HIGH SCHOOL (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: All those wishing to spend a weekend in
Last Line: Stereotypes at the door. Refreshments will %be served
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALAN ZIEGEL, TEACHER, TOWER HIGH SCHOOL (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am not burning out
Last Line: Thus my northern adventure
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALAN ZIEGEL, TEACHER, TOWER HIGH SCHOOL (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just talk into the camcorder, kwame
Last Line: The world awaits your words
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALAN ZIEGEL, TEACHER, TOWER HIGH SCHOOL (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was in school myself
Last Line: Anyone seen kwame?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALAN ZIEGEL, TEACHER, TOWER HIGH SCHOOL (5), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Officer erikson?
Last Line: Can I see him now?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALBERT AYLER'S FLOWERS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Albert, the flowers
Last Line: The music took us %all on
Subject(s): Cities


ALBERT GOODSON, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 5 (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I must respectfully disagree with the good doctor
Last Line: If not, we stand adjourned
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALBERT GOODSON, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 5 (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Duly noted, oliver
Last Line: Good night, lady and gentlemen
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALCHEMIST IN THE CITY, by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My window shows the traveling clouds
Last Line: And pierce the yellow waxen light %with free long looking, ere I die
Subject(s): Cities


ALGIERS, by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Gold-vestured suns and silver-fretted nights
Last Line: Algiers!—inch' allah!—sleeping!
Subject(s): Algiers; Cities; Urban Life


ALIBIS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They'll tell you %'I wasn't there %when he perished'
Last Line: On my way %home from %work
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


ALL SHOOK UP, by MARK PAWLAK    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby don't do it
Last Line: Ain't doin too bad
Subject(s): Cities


ALL THE BEAUTIFUL DAYS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I left you today I came to a
Last Line: Once again %back to us
Subject(s): Cities


ALONE WITH THE OLD FARMER'S WIFE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: By the doorway I hear him
Last Line: To hold %each blossom
Subject(s): California; Cities


ALONG MAIN STREET, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you hear 'bout the dance?
Last Line: Keep this under your hat, no sense spreading stories. %you bet
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ALONG MAIN STREET 2, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Can you believe it?
Last Line: You're about the only one
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AMARANTH AND MOLY, by AMY CLAMPITT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The night we bailed out jolene from riker's island
Last Line: And jolene was not only amaranth and moly, she was poetry %leaping the turnstiles of another century
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


AMBULANCE, by KARL KIRCHWEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The caduceus flies past, with serpents wrought
Last Line: Watches forgotten, walkmans, or keychains %that respond to a human voice
Subject(s): Ambulances; Cities


AMONG THE MISSING, by RICHARD HOWARD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Know me? I am the ghost of gansevoort pier
Alternate Author Name(s): Howard, Joseph
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


AMONG THE MISSING, by RICHARD HOWARD    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Know me? I am the ghost of gansevoort pier
Last Line: Disclosures of the kind I do so well, %I with the other ghosts am laid at last
Alternate Author Name(s): Howard, Joseph
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


AMONG THE STONES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And there
Last Line: The silence %of god
Subject(s): Cities


AMSTERDAM, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everyone comes to visit
Last Line: I could see the face of my mother
Subject(s): Cities


AMY SWINTON (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: While my friends can't wait to leave town
Last Line: Modeling just for me
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AMY SWINTON (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: That's my mother
Last Line: My mother will have no time to reach me %then
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AMY SWINTON (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother outmaneuvers martha stewart
Last Line: It's a wonder to see how she covers everything up
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AMY SWINTON: JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tc erickson? %hope I'm not bothering you
Last Line: I see that hat practically every day in town
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AMY SWINTON: KATIE FUNG, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: See this camera?
Last Line: In its proper focus
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


AN ABIDING CITY, by KATHARINE TYNAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My city walls are builded sure
Last Line: Pass in a dream of light.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): Cities; Comfort; God; Walls; Urban Life


AN ENGLISHMAN VISITS PHILADELPHIA, by ELEANOR G. R. YOUNG    Poem Text                    
First Line: Yes, I have seen your city
Last Line: "I shall remember its chaste dignity."
Subject(s): Cities; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Tourists; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


AN OLD HYMN FOR IAN JENKINS, by DAVID BOTTOMS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: All things we value in terms of contrast
Last Line: Of the dream is place.
Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Cities; Dreams; New York City; Southern States; Estrangement; Outcasts; Urban Life; Nightmares; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple; South (u.s.)


AN ORDINARY MORNING, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A man is singing on the bus
Subject(s): Cities; Detroit, Michigan; Urban Life


AN URBAN ECLOGUE, by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS    Poem Text                    
First Line: How favoured are we, phyllis
Last Line: A million years ago!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


ANGIE PERRY (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Most people in school don't know
Last Line: And find a real family of my own
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANGIE PERRY (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm sittin' on the bus
Last Line: To experience the luxury of complaint
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANGIE PERRY (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr. Z., what do you mean, I can't see him?
Last Line: Man, what they're doin' to him is an american tragedy
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANGIE PERRY: BECKY BEAUCLAIRE, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You eat like that all the time?'
Last Line: I'll take my chances.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANGRY FROM ON HIGH, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And we climbed up to the cities
Last Line: Of the journey of the stones
Subject(s): Cities


ANIMA URBIS, by EDITH MATILDA THOMAS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You, city, by two rivers made an isle
Last Line: Since I have so loved you -- do you love me?
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Love; Nature; Soul; Urban Life


ANIMAL MIMICRY, by ROBERT POLITO    Poem Source                    
First Line: The sun is setting in another part of the city
Last Line: We see you around
Subject(s): Cities


ANNAPOLIS AT EVENING, by IVY LINDSLEY    Poem Text                    
First Line: Across the restless waters of the bay
Last Line: Leave her in vanished glory, proud, devout.
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Night; Seashore; Urban Life; Bedtime; Beach; Coast; Shore


ANNIE GARDINER, TEACHER, HUDSON LANDING CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I just got tenure
Last Line: This is my northern adventure
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANNIE GARDINER, TEACHER, HUDSON LANDING CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let's go, hornets, let's go!
Last Line: Let's go, hornets, let's go!
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANNIE GARDINER, TEACHER, HUDSON LANDING CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Do not go to italy, my friends warned me
Last Line: I wish I had given my dream lover more to %apologize for
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANNIE GARDINER, TEACHER, HUDSON LANDING CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother believes in total honesty
Last Line: I wish she were a little more dishonest
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANNIE GARDINER, TEACHER, HUDSON LANDING CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (5), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: How wonderful you all look tonight!
Last Line: And may you remember this night for a long, long time
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANNIE GARDINER, TEACHER, HUDSON LANDING CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (6), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm young, but I'm old inside
Last Line: And dance the night away under the roman stars
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANTHONY LA BLANCA (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'll score in the nba
Last Line: With my dreams
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANTHONY LA BLANCA (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Friday nights I cruise the avenue
Last Line: Puttin' my car and my body into overdrive
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANTHONY LA BLANCA: BUDDY ERIKSON, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boy, this schmuck's a loser; he never says a word
Last Line: What can you tell me about her?' %not much.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ANTIPOVERTY ANTIPOETRY, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: You shouldn't be surprised %to catch a whiff %of me
Last Line: Like a crooked picture %from your present past
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


ANY CITY, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Into the staring street / she goes on her nightly round
Last Line: The night with its pitiless stars.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael
Subject(s): Cities; Social Problems; Urban Life


APARTMENT DWELLER, COUNTRY BRED, by KATHERINE R. MARSH    Poem Text                    
First Line: I want a row of hollyhocks and spotted tiger lilies
Last Line: To go back home again!
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Homesickness; Urban Life


APOLOGY TO VALLEJO, by BERNARD JANKOWSKI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dear vallejo
Last Line: And I spent all day %absorbed in my own
Subject(s): Cities; Letters


APPROPRIATION OF A BILLY JOEL CLASSIC, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't go changin %your drawers %to try and %please me
Last Line: Take you %just the way %you are
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


APRIL IN NEW YORK, by NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Vapor is curling from the manhole
Last Line: As if her life depended on it
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


ARGUMENT RESUMED; OR UP THROUGH TRIBECA, by THOMAS M. DISCH    Poem Source                    
First Line: It may not be forever
Last Line: Glows among other peaches in the fruitbowl. %such and no other is the soul
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


ARRHYTHMIA, by AMANDA SCHAFFER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brown street signs mean change
Last Line: Are you still alive out there?
Subject(s): Cities; Family Life


ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY, by DAVID LEHMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Reduce the supply while the demand stays constant and the
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY, by DAVID LEHMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Reduce the supply while the demand stays constant and the
Last Line: When freedom meant driving a car over a cliff & jumping out at the last possible moment
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


AS IF, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You were here, as if I cared
Last Line: Her head %on my shoulder
Subject(s): Cities


ASCENSION OF A CITY FOG, by FRANCES COFFIN BOAZ    Poem Text                    
First Line: The avaricious sun dripped no gold
Last Line: In the ascension of a shimmering, city fog...
Subject(s): Cities; Fog; Urban Life; Haze


ASHES TO ASHES, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
Last Line: I'm ashes, %remember?
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


ASIAN ZODIAC, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Love in the twelfth sign
Last Line: So surely %past our possibility
Subject(s): California; Cities


ASPHALT AND CHROMIUM GLORY, by MARGARET LATHROP LAW    Poem Text                    
First Line: Go, build your sky-scrapers higher and higher
Last Line: Beauty shall drape the mildewed bone.
Subject(s): Cities; Heaven; Life; Sky; Urban Life; Paradise


AT DAYBREAK, by ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the train window at daybreak
Last Line: The train picking up speed
Subject(s): Railroads; Cities; Desolation


ATLANTA DEATH 1981, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This green ribbon I wear
Last Line: While she dies
Subject(s): Cities


AUGUST IN THE CITY, by CHARLES HANSON TOWNE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The brooding hours, through the dull afternoon.
Last Line: Where the glad, fresh rain beats!)
Subject(s): August; Cities; Urban Life


AUNT LIZZIE'S PICTURES, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aunt lizzie's mantel is like a museum
Last Line: Where family ends and pride begins
Subject(s): Cities


AUSCHWITZ, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And there we were
Last Line: Into the dark florescence of fear itself
Subject(s): Cities


AVENUE, by ROBERT PINSKY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They stack bright pyramids of goods and gather
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


AVENUE, by ROBERT PINSKY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They stack bright pyramids of goods and gather
Last Line: Capering, on fire, they cleave to the riven hub
Subject(s): Cities


AVENUES, by DAVID ST. JOHN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Some nights when you're off
Last Line: Smoke as the trucks leave their alleys and loading %chutes -looking for breakfast, or a little peace
Subject(s): Cities


BACHELOR'S UNWRITTEN LETTER TO JAPAN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The old man feels lucky tonight
Last Line: Through the dark to his home
Subject(s): California; Cities


BACK TO THE LAND!, by CHARLES WHITWORTH WYNNE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Acres out of cultivation!
Last Line: Peace in her imperial eyes.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cayzer, Charles
Subject(s): Cities; Great Britain - Commonwealth & Colonies; Urban Life; British Empire; England - Empire


BACKYARDS, BROOKLYN, by ELINOR NAUEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Spring tears %the slush
Last Line: Throws up such %reminders of the dead
Subject(s): Cities


BAGHDAD, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In a baghdad amputated
Last Line: Death's plumes
Subject(s): Cities


BALLAD OF ORANGE AND GRAPE, by MURIEL RUKEYSER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: After you finish your work
Subject(s): Cities; Harlem (new York City); Urban Life


BALLAD OF ORANGE AND GRAPE, by MURIEL RUKEYSER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After you finish your work
Last Line: Pouring orange into grape and grape into orange forever
Subject(s): Cities; Harlem (new York City)


BALLADE OF HIS OWN COUNTRY; TO C.H. ARKCOLL, by ANDREW LANG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let them boast of arabia, oppressed
Last Line: With the smell of bog-myrtle and peat!
Subject(s): Arabia; Cities; Patriotism; Urban Life


BARE HANDS, by ALICE G. HARVEY    Poem Text                    
First Line: A lad with eager, anxious eyes
Last Line: To pay for a place to sleep.
Subject(s): Cities; Farm Life; Labor & Laborers; Urban Life; Agriculture; Farmers; Work; Workers


BEA THE BEAUTICIAN, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I think the beautician
Last Line: Oh, the tricks bea can do
Subject(s): Cities


BEAUTIFUL CITY, by ALFRED TENNYSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Beautiful city, the centre and crater of european confusion
Last Line: Roll'd again back on itself in the tides of a civic insanity!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


BECAUSE THE RHYTHM OF THE BALLAD DEPENDS ON THE BASS, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: More than ever I hear a slow bass line
Last Line: After all is only a man
Subject(s): California; Cities


BECKY BEAUCLAIRE (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've known the same group of kids for so long
Last Line: I figure it's time for me and my friends to check %her out
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BECKY BEAUCLAIRE (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nothin' to do in this town
Last Line: There's got to be more to life than screwin' around
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BECKY BEAUCLAIRE (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: After buddy erikson, my one true love
Last Line: When he realizes he ain't gonna find nobody better
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BECKY BEAUCLAIRE (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Was who at the dance?
Last Line: Personally I couldn't care less
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BEFORE BRUCE LEE THERE WAS TOSHIRO MIFUNE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Toshiro, you were so much more to me
Last Line: In your every step -- no one came close
Subject(s): California; Cities


BEGGAR GETS TOO PREACHY, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I can't make %this park bench
Last Line: Like the rich sayz: %it's all or nothing!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


BEGGAR IS A VEGETARIAN, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: If %it %wasn't %for the %fact
Last Line: I would %eat my %shoes
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


BEGINNER ON PAPER, by RUTH KRAUSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: On paper %I write it
Last Line: I write my name
Subject(s): Cities


BEHIND THE CLOSED EYE, by FRANCIS LEDWIDGE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I walk the old frequented ways
Last Line: On the city's strife and din.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


BEING FROM ST. LOUIS, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Under the nickel-gray bridges
Last Line: Its name on our knees.
Subject(s): Aviation & Aviators; Cities; Railroads; Travel; Airplanes; Air Pilots; Urban Life; Railways; Trains; Journeys; Trips


BELLY BREATHS, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The belly of the world
Last Line: Breath close %to the core
Subject(s): California; Cities


BELLY BUTTON, by STUART JOHN DYBEK    Poem Source                    
First Line: What was it about the belly button that connected it to the old country?
Last Line: At that knotted opening that promised to lead inward, but never did
Subject(s): Chicago; Cities; Ghettos


BIG HOUSE REVISITED, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bigger thomas %wasn't suppose
Last Line: Without strings %attached %bein everybody's %big tom
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


BILL PAXELL, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 2, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My friend ollie, you should stay in your store on %main street
Last Line: White bread only. %I vote yes
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BIRTHDAY PRESENTS 1989 (FOR JOYCE JOHNSON), by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A lost 1970 woolworth earring
Last Line: Rush through the rain
Subject(s): Cities


BLAME, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't blame the city, she said
Last Line: And who do you blame, good sir, %for the poisoned irish sea?
Subject(s): Anger; Cities; Ireland


BLUE SUNDAY, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chestnut flowers are falling
Subject(s): Cities; Houses, Deserted; Solitude; Urban Life; Loneliness


BLUE SUNDAY, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chestnut flowers are falling
Last Line: And papers blow down the street
Subject(s): Cities; Houses, Deserted; Solitude


BOBBACK DUKE, by ROGER SEDARAT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cousin bobback watches too much dukes of hazzard
Last Line: And the state of texas gets his goat
Subject(s): Cities


BOMBAY, by JOHN PEPPER CLARK    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Here nothing seems new: the rising
Last Line: In the wake of an empress now slut
Alternate Author Name(s): Clark-bekederemo, J. P.; Clark, J. P.
Subject(s): Bombay, India; Cities; Poverty


BONE FLUTE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: First there were flutes & drums
Last Line: From one low quiver rising
Subject(s): California; Cities


BONWIT TELLER, by MICHAEL WATERS    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who says the light doesn't breathe
Last Line: Will the change come? %into a speechless mannequin
Subject(s): Change; Cities; Imagination


BORDER TALLIES: STILL CLIMBING GOLD MOUNTAIN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a little known fact
Last Line: 1.2 billion sets of teeth to shine
Subject(s): California; Cities


BOSTON, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: At night
Last Line: Of a roof over our heads
Subject(s): Cities


BOWLING GREEN, by ARTHUR GUITERMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A pleasant breadth of open space
Last Line: The city's heart is bowling green.
Subject(s): Bowling Green, New York City; Cities; New York City - Colonial Period; Peace; Urban Life


BRACE YOURSELF, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: To keep from catching 22 colds
Last Line: But brace yourself! %nothing's permanent
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


BRIAN PAXELL (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got my first brother when I was eight
Last Line: Anyone or anything %to get
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BRIAN PAXELL (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love the smell of manure in the morning
Last Line: And perfectly pick them all off, one by one
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BRIAN PAXELL (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother drags me to box socials
Last Line: Another box soial in my life %sorry, mom
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BRIAN PAXELL (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did I see her at the dance?
Last Line: Could have been anyone
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BRIAN PAXELL: TOMMY LA BLANCA, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey, tommy, don't this dance suck?
Last Line: I just feel like shooting something. Or someone
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BRIDGES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: We built
Last Line: And wise sailors
Subject(s): Cities


BROADWAY, by MARK DOTY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Under grand central's tattered vault
Last Line: The jewel of love for us
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


BROADWAY, by MARK DOTY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Under grand central's tattered vault
Last Line: Are replenishing the jewel of love for us
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


BROADWAY'S CANYON, by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: This is like the nave of an unfinished cathedral
Subject(s): Broadway, New York City; Cities


BROKE MIRROR IMAGE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Those that murder me %say that I'm responsible
Last Line: Plasters %onto the back %of their minds
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


BROOK AVENUE, THE BRONX (1998), by ANGELO VERGA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walk off for coffee and a corn
Last Line: I know. Beauty is what I live for
Subject(s): Cities


BROOKLYN BOUND, by BARBARA ELOVIC    Poem Source                    
First Line: As if posed for a picture called 'restless youth'
Last Line: As the flight of any bird, away from the water
Subject(s): Brooklyn, New York; Cities


BROOKLYN BRIDGE CLIMBS ON BONES OF BRICKLAYERS, by SHARON MESMER    Poem Source                    
First Line: The brooklyn bridge climbs on bones of bricklayers
Last Line: A last thought in the brain's multiple pathways picking bones %splash
Subject(s): Cities


BROOKLYN BRIDGE THE OTHER WAY, by ROBERT MYLES HERSHON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am walking over the bridge
Last Line: And now I'm almost home
Subject(s): Cities


BROWNSTONE, by ROD MCKUEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Birds and butterflies
Last Line: Is unconcerned %as night begins
Subject(s): Cities


BUDDY ERIKSON (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was ten
Last Line: It's gonna be some time before you're a man,' he said
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BUDDY ERIKSON (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My father is the town constable
Last Line: I know I would
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


BUFFALO, by MOLLY PEACOCK    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Many times I wait there for my father
Subject(s): Buffalo (city), New York; Cities; Fathers & Daughters; Urban Life


BUFFALO, by MOLLY PEACOCK    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Many times I wait there for my father
Last Line: Behind bar blinds we were caged, %some motes of sunlight cathedrally beaming
Subject(s): Buffalo (city), New York; Cities; Fathers And Daughters


BUILDING A STAIRCASE BY HAND, by DONNA BROOK    Poem Source                    
First Line: In our brooklyn backyard, a mexican
Last Line: And we're in the front hall waving %playfully at him
Subject(s): Cities


BUILDING OF THE CITY, by ISA CRAIG-KNOX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Behold the city is building!
Last Line: And christ is in the midst of us
Subject(s): Cities; Jesus Christ


BURIED CITIES; FATHER CHARLES, by WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: No paler monk than father charles, and none so gaunt or lean
Last Line: With thirty buried cities upon his reverend pate.
Subject(s): Aging; Cities; Clergy; Death; Monks; Urban Life; Priests; Rabbis; Ministers; Bishops; Dead, The


BURNT OFFERING AT THE BABALAO, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: He committed suicide
Last Line: That he was just %a janitor
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


BUYING AND SELLING, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All the way across the bay bridge I sang
Subject(s): Cities; Salespersons; Urban Life; Selling


BUYING AND SELLING, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All the way across the bay bridge I sang
Last Line: Themselves, who having been abandoned believe %their parents will return before dark
Subject(s): Cities; Salespersons


BY A SMALL RIVER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: A man chooses to build his house
Last Line: The rain and long after
Subject(s): California; Cities


BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A highway. Night. Passing
Last Line: Under the weight of them
Subject(s): Cities


C'EST PLUS QU'UN CRIME, C'EST UNE FAUTE', by DAVID TRINIDAD    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the small hours, several rounds
Last Line: The night sky briefly flared %into a brilliant shade of red
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles


CAGE WALKER, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He shoves the .38
Last Line: They say august is a good time %for a man to go crazy
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): Cities


CALIFORNIA, by OLIVER MURRAY EDWARDS    Poem Text                    
First Line: I've seen the world, I've traveled far
Last Line: My heart doth yield to thee.
Subject(s): California; Cities; Home; Roads; Travel; Urban Life; Paths; Trails; Journeys; Trips


CALIFORNIA PLUSH, by FRANK BIDART    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He only thing I miss about los angeles
Subject(s): Cities And Towns; Los Angeles, California


CALLIGRAPHER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: He stoops on the sandy ground
Last Line: And never went back
Subject(s): California; Cities


CAN ODOR POLLUTION MAKE YOU SICK?, by NATHAN WHITING    Poem Source                    
First Line: Where eastern parkway turns
Last Line: Decorated to hold love
Subject(s): Cities


CANDELABRAS, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My grandmother
Last Line: Under her bleeding %skirt
Subject(s): Cities


CANVASES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And on the threshold of dreams
Last Line: The shadows
Subject(s): Cities


CARDBOARD BOX, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: What can you do with a cardboard box?
Last Line: Save it to jazz up a rainy day
Subject(s): Cities


CARRYING THE BANNER, by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: (which is tramp-argot for walking the street / all night)
Last Line: And I said 'thank god' with all my heart, for it was day again!
Subject(s): Cities; Night; Solitude; Walking; Urban Life; Bedtime; Loneliness


CATCHING QUIET, by MARCI RIDLON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's hard to catch quiet %in the city
Last Line: It's a but of blue
Subject(s): Cities


CAVE CALL, by JOHN PEPPER CLARK    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The caves of manhattan call out to me
Last Line: Once more in those siren streets and afternoon!
Alternate Author Name(s): Clark-bekederemo, J. P.; Clark, J. P.
Subject(s): Cities; Times Square, New York


CEDAR ROAD (2), by MICHAEL CERAOLO    Poem Source                    
First Line: The dead buildings have names and dates of birth inscribed in stone
Last Line: Only wooden windows to mark their passing
Subject(s): Inner Cities


CENSUS, by WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Seven cities have been excavated
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CENSUS, by WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Seven cities have been excavated
Last Line: No one knows what he does in his spare time
Subject(s): Cities


CENTRAL PARK WEST, by MICHAEL COFFEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shakes the pavement, city traffic
Last Line: The avenue its long, cold face
Subject(s): Central Park, New York City; Cities; Traffic


CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I cherish %public displays %of affection
Last Line: A broken jaw %and caved in chest
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


CHASING THE HOLY GHOSTS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Religion wasn't enough
Last Line: For him; so he began %drinking heavily
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


CHEMISTS, by GARY LENHART    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the laundromat we discuss student unrest in israel
Last Line: Who has an apartment in the village, %that the upper west side has the cleanest young men
Subject(s): Cities


CHOCOLATE BUDDIES, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: We take a break from kickball
Last Line: As we chill out on the stoop
Subject(s): Cities


CHRISTENING, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: From our bed we take time
Last Line: Body embracing its own
Subject(s): California; Cities


CHRISTMAS, BOSTON 1989, by PATRICIA SPEARS JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: This is how I know god exists
Last Line: Across the parched milky sky, %electric lights bloom
Subject(s): Boston; Christmas; Cities


CITIES, by ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I took my staff and wandered o'er the mountains
Last Line: The martyr died, denying: and I wondered
Alternate Author Name(s): Maitland, Thomas
Subject(s): Cities


CITIES, by PAUL CLAUDEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: As there are books on beehives
Last Line: A book indeed
Subject(s): Boston; China; Cities; London; New York City; Paris, France


CITIES, by HILDA DOOLITTLE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Can we believe - by an effort
Last Line: Await the new beauty of cities?
Alternate Author Name(s): H. D.; Aldington, Richard, Mrs.
Subject(s): Bible; Cities; Urban Life


CITIES, by CHARLES LAURENCE NORTH    Poem Source                    
First Line: San francisco ss
Last Line: New york p
Subject(s): Cities; Geography; Travel


CITIES, by CARTER REVARD    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Are a way of keeping grass
Last Line: That darken spread and flake %like ringworm in green hair
Alternate Author Name(s): Nompewathe
Subject(s): Cities


CITIES, by MARY BRENT WHITESIDE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Jerusalem is like a tower in the east
Last Line: Accursed of all the ages -- kerioth.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITIES OF ELD, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the orient uplands afar
Last Line: And even their gods unknown.
Subject(s): Asia; Cities; Dancing & Dancers; Fate; Life; Love; Soul; Far East; East Asia; Orient; Urban Life; Destiny


CITIES OF GOLD, by MICHAEL BOWDEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: At an edge of sleep the sentences in a reporter's head begin to fracture
Last Line: Fuck you at the stars and her old man over and over
Subject(s): Cities; Retrospection; Revolutions


CITIES OF STONE, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because she loved and died
Last Line: Of the wind and silence %said
Subject(s): Cities


CITIES OF THE LIVING, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Curfew, %a perverse silence
Last Line: Of somber %nights
Subject(s): Cities


CITIES OF THE PLAIN, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where are the cabalists, the insidious committees
Last Line: We wish we had our little sodom back!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITIES: THE LAST LIGHTS OFF THE WEST, by ELENI SIKELIANOS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In darkness a paperweight
Last Line: Are these? (curtains.)
Subject(s): Cities; West (u.s.); Urban Life; Southwest; Pacific States


CITY, by CONSTANTINE P. CAVAFY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You said, I'll go to another shore, I'll go to another land
Last Line: A mess of your life, in all the world it stands in ruin
Alternate Author Name(s): Kavafis, Konstantinos; Cavafy, C. P.
Subject(s): Cities


CITY, by RAFAEL ESTRADA    Poem Source                    
First Line: At night I leave the windows open to get a better view of the
Last Line: Sleep truly consoles us
Subject(s): Cities


CITY, by JOSE FONTINHAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I set out through september, on the road to the splendor of
Last Line: Loved to place a diadem upon its head
Subject(s): Cities; Commuters; Love; Travel


CITY, by ANGEL GONZALEZ    Poem Source                    
First Line: Things glisten. Roof tiles rise
Last Line: Grinder in which everything is done
Subject(s): Cities


CITY, by LAURENCE HARTMUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Sullen city of motile skies
Last Line: That is why I mock your law that says I should be as other men.
Subject(s): Cities; Traffic; Urban Life


CITY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the morning the city
Last Line: About its head
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): Cities


CITY, by EDWIN MUIR    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Day after day we kept the dusty road
Last Line: And centuries of fear and power and awe, %and all our children in the deadly wood
Subject(s): Cities


CITY, by OGDEN NASH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here men walk alone
Last Line: What with hydrants for dogs, %and windows for wives
Subject(s): Cities


CITY, by EDDY VAN VLIET    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city is covered with places for you
Last Line: I shall forget what was taken from me
Subject(s): Cities


CITY AFTER SNOWFALL, by JOSEPH M. DITTA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some annoyances are trivial %and best forgot to smoothen your day
Last Line: But the figure doesn't assuage %a mild vexation turned to rage
Subject(s): Cities; Snow; Winter


CITY AND THE TRUCKS, by DOROTHY BROWN THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city sleeps in its unconcern, but the highways are awake
Last Line: The tail-boards slam, and the trailers ram - and the great trucks roll again!
Subject(s): Cities; Trucks And Trucking


CITY AND VILLAGE, by ALEXANDER ANDERSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Once again within the city, 'mid its multitudinous din
Last Line: Or in my walks at night-time when the village is at rest.
Alternate Author Name(s): Surfaceman
Subject(s): Cithern (musical Instrument); Cities; Railroads; Villages; Urban Life; Railways; Trains


CITY AT NIGHT, by PAUL CLAUDEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: It is raining softly. The night has come
Last Line: I see the electric lights of the concession shrine
Subject(s): China; Cities; Night


CITY AT TWILIGHT, by OSCAR WILLIAMS    Poem Text                    
First Line: The swinging bells engrave in sunset golds
Last Line: Faintly, the music of milleniums ......
Subject(s): Cities; Evening; Urban Life; Sunset; Twilight


CITY BLOCKADES, by LEE BENNETT HOPKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel so small
Last Line: From the light of the sky
Subject(s): Cities


CITY CHRISTMAS, by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now is the time when the great urban heart
Last Line: We hear too late or not too late
Alternate Author Name(s): Hayden, Charles, Mrs.
Subject(s): Christmas; Cities; Nativity, The; Urban Life


CITY CHRISTMAS, by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now is the time when the great urban heart
Last Line: And twenty thousand doormen hourly grow %politer and politer and politer
Alternate Author Name(s): Hayden, Charles, Mrs.
Subject(s): Christmas; Cities


CITY CONTRASTS, by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: A barefooted child on the crossing
Last Line: Equality in the grave
Subject(s): Cities;life; Urban Life


CITY DUMP, by FELICE HOLMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: City asleep
Last Line: A carnival %on the garbage heap
Subject(s): Cities


CITY DWELLERS, by STANTON ARTHUR COBLENTZ    Poem Text                    
First Line: For all they see, the stars might never glow
Last Line: Fragrance and light, and food for every sense!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITY IMAGE, by LENNART SJOGREN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw a pike's head
Last Line: When she ate of the grass %at the river's edge
Subject(s): Cities; Tourists; Travel


CITY LEVITATES, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: I'm back %in the unmade bed
Subject(s): Arabs; Cities; Jerusalem; Jews; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine


CITY LIGHTS, by KARLE WILSON BAKER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: God made, they say, the country
Alternate Author Name(s): Wilson, Charlotte
Subject(s): Cities


CITY MARKET, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city market's lively stalls
Last Line: Above the buzz of crowded aisles
Subject(s): Cities


CITY MOON, by JAMES RORTY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A thin moon hurrying, blown from the sea
Last Line: Leaps the last chimney-pot, hurries, and fades.
Subject(s): Cities; Moon; Urban Life


CITY NIGHTS: 1. IN THE TRAIN, by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The train through the night of the town
Last Line: The dazzling vista of streets!
Subject(s): Cities; Railroads; Urban Life; Railways; Trains


CITY NIGHTS: 2. IN THE TEMPLE, by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The grey and misty night
Last Line: Neath the weeping moon!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITY OF 12,000 BRIDGES, SUZHOU, by DANEEN WARDROP    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Who never thought to write to me
Subject(s): Absence; China; Cities; Travel


CITY OF DREADFUL THIRSTS, by ANDREW BARTON PATERSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The stranger came from narromine and made his little joke
Last Line: That narrow-minded person on his road to narromine.
Alternate Author Name(s): Paterson, 'banjo'
Subject(s): Cities; Clouds; Rain; Thirst; Urban Life


CITY OF SEVEN HILLS, by PATRICIA MURPHY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Imagine last night, cracking blue crabs
Last Line: From row upon row of chaff
Subject(s): Bodies; Cities; Women


CITY OF THE LIGHT (1), by FELIX ADLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hail the glorious golden city %pictured by the seers of old!
Last Line: It will merge into the splendors %of the city of thr light
Variant Title(s): The City Of Our Hop
Subject(s): Cities; Future Life; Justice; Religion


CITY OF THE LIGHT (2), by FELIX ADLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you heard the golden city %mentioned in the legends old?
Last Line: It will merge into the splendors %of the city of the light
Subject(s): Cities; Future Life; Justice; Religion


CITY PARK, by CHRISTINE CROW    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the shade of a plane tree with our shopping
Last Line: And fly away almost anywhere
Subject(s): Cities


CITY RAIN, by JEAN-MARK SENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Singe blue of the storm
Last Line: Wriggled away in the meandering haze coils of hot tarmac
Subject(s): Cities; Rain


CITY ROOFS, by CHARLES HANSON TOWNE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Roof-tops, roof-tops, what do you cover?
Last Line: The driftwood of the town who have no roof-top and no home!
Subject(s): Cities; Roofing & Roofers; Urban Life


CITY SONG: 3, by MARK VAN DOREN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She keeps one instant to herself
Last Line: That was a child; and he was change
Subject(s): Cities


CITY SONGS: 1, by MARK VAN DOREN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What if the ways be stone
Last Line: After we can do %with darkness, heart on heart
Subject(s): Cities


CITY SONGS: 2, by MARK VAN DOREN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Think no less of all his pain
Last Line: That night is gone, but we have heard %eternal singing in a tomb
Subject(s): Cities


CITY SONNET, by FLORENCE DAVIDSON STROTHER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Watering plants from a wedgewood cup today
Last Line: With a tear or two perhaps.
Subject(s): Cities; Sonnet (as Literary Form); Urban Life


CITY SQUARE, by FAIRFAX DOWNEY    Poem Text                    
First Line: I had a diploma
Last Line: Since they don't like diplomas, not anywhere there.
Subject(s): Cities; Education; Job Hunting; Universities & Colleges; Urban Life


CITY STREETS, by GERARD JOHN CONFORTI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Along the city streets
Subject(s): Cities; Streets


CITY STREETS AND COUNTRY ROADS, by ELEANOR FARJEON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The city has streets
Last Line: Oh, take me away %to the country again!
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life


CITY SUNSETS, by ELEANOR G. R. YOUNG    Poem Text                    
First Line: Compassionately, tenderly, they throw
Last Line: Bathed in light!
Subject(s): Cities; Farewell; Travel; Urban Life; Parting; Journeys; Trips


CITY SUPERMARKET, by MICHAEL CERAOLO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Not at all super
Last Line: And is sold at usurious prices
Subject(s): Inner Cities; Markets; Racism


CITY THAT WATCHES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: More than monuments
Last Line: But a naked body
Subject(s): Cities


CITY THOUGHT, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Is this my house, I ask?
Last Line: Is it really my soul that keeps its undefiled windows lighted with so calm and patient a lamp?
Subject(s): Cities


CITY TREES, by VERE DARGAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: The trees along our city streets
Last Line: Are lovely, gallant things.
Subject(s): Cities; Trees; Urban Life


CITY TREES, by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The trees along this city street
Last Line: I know what sound is there.
Alternate Author Name(s): Boyd, Nancy; Boissevain, Eugen, Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Trees; Urban Life


CITY VIGNETTE: DAWN, by SARA TEASDALE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The greenish sky glows up in misty reds
Last Line: And hear the milk-cart jangle by alone.
Alternate Author Name(s): Filsinger, Ernest B., Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITY VIGNETTE: DUSK, by SARA TEASDALE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The city's street, a roaring blackened stream
Last Line: And over all the pale untroubled skies.
Alternate Author Name(s): Filsinger, Ernest B., Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITY VIGNETTE: RAIN AT NIGHT, by SARA TEASDALE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The street-lamps shine in a yellow line
Last Line: By the tread of homing feet.
Alternate Author Name(s): Filsinger, Ernest B., Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Rain; Urban Life


CITY VISIONS, by EMMA LAZARUS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As the blind milton's memory of light
Last Line: And open unseen gates with key of gold?
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CITY WAYS, by NAOMI FLOWE FAUST    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just back %from the country
Last Line: What psychiatrist %I needed
Subject(s): Cities


CITY-SCAPE, by ELENI Z. AUERBACH    Poem Source                    
First Line: The yellow-white of wheat fields
Last Line: As large as a straight line %driven into sky
Subject(s): Cities; Skyscrapers


CIVIL WAR, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Into my sister's kitchen
Last Line: I am forever %committed
Subject(s): Cities


CLARA TO CLOE; EPISTLE FROM CITY LADY TO COUNTRY COUSIN, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear cloe - I'm deeply your debtor
Last Line: C.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


CLEAN, by ANN TURNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was small %like five
Last Line: On those clean, %sweet streets
Subject(s): Cities


CLEARNESS OF MEMORY, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And in vain she remembered
Last Line: Of those ancestral jews
Subject(s): Cities


CLOUDS (AGRO ROMANO), by WILLIAM SHARP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As though the dead cities
Last Line: In the heights of heaven.
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Cities; Clouds; Heaven; Rome, Italy; Urban Life; Paradise


COFFEE SHOP TALK, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Of course he did it
Last Line: Of course he did it
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


COME!, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come, let us blow up the whole business
Last Line: But let us wipe out a few hundred millon
Subject(s): Cities


COMING HOME, DETROIT, 1968, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A winter tuesday, the city pouring fire,
Subject(s): Cities; Detroit, Michigan; Homecoming; Industry; Labor & Laborers; Urban Life; Work; Workers


COMING HOME, DETROIT, 1968, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A winter tuesday, the city pouring fire,
Last Line: The twisted river stopped at the cover of iron. %we burn this city every day.
Subject(s): Cities; Detroit, Michigan; Homecoming; Industry; Labor And Laborers


COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Do you know me? %I'm that smell
Last Line: Hasn't fought %for me
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


COMMUTERS, by BETSY GOULD HEARNE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Like the city skyline they
Last Line: To swaying from straps
Subject(s): Cities


COMPOSED NEAR THE BAY BRIDGE (AFTER A WILD PARTY), by MARILYN MEI LING CHIN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Amerigo has his finger on the pulse of china
Last Line: A few geese winging south; minor officials return home
Alternate Author Name(s): Chin, Marilyn
Subject(s): Cities


COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 3, 1802, by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Earth has not anything to show more fair
Last Line: And all that mighty heart is lying still!
Variant Title(s): Sonnet;sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, London, 1802;calm;morning In London;upon Westminster Bridge;westminster Bridge
Subject(s): Architecture & Architects; Cities; England; London; Morning; Nature; Rivers; Time; Urban Life; English


COMPOSITION #1, by EULA BISS    Poem Source                    
First Line: To be recorded in the morning on a hand-held cassette recorder
Last Line: Coney island at night, in the winter, with snow on the wonder wheel
Subject(s): Cities


CONFESSIONS OF A FLAGELLANT, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes %my own %body odor
Last Line: Guard %hose me %down %good
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


CONFESSIONS OF A URINAL, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: One of the worse feelings %besides eating
Last Line: Is when your %socks %fall
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


CONNIE DEANOVICH, by CONNIE DEANOVICH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am a woman in a red blouse
Last Line: A temperamental crystal in the %temperamental sunshine
Subject(s): Cities; Self


CONSEQUENCES OF WAKING, by VICKIE KARP    Poem Source                    
First Line: From a fish store window, on their deathbed of ice
Last Line: That falls like bait, like a hundred vowels %in search of a language
Subject(s): Cities; Fishing And Fishermen


CONSTRUCTION, by MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: And every time I pass %the building grows up
Last Line: Grows this building
Subject(s): Cities


CONTENTION, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm content with the sky being blue
Last Line: I'm content with the rain & the grave off my back
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


CONTRASTES / CONTRASTS, by GLORIA ALVAREZ    Poem Source                    
First Line: Interminables, interminable silver gray cylinders
Last Line: Of its inhabitants, it's said
Subject(s): Cities


CONVERSATION WITH MYSELF ON THE CURB, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's not that I loathe %posturepedic beds
Last Line: Of neighborhood youth %setting my clothes on fire
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


CONVERSATIONS WITH JOB, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jobs? %we all have jobs
Last Line: You feel %uncomfortable
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


COOKIE MALDONADO (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Is the camera on?
Last Line: Would you like a cookie from cookie, mr. Ziegel?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


COOKIE MALDONADO (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I think I see her!
Last Line: Would anybody like a cookie?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


COOKIE MALDONADO (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kristen, kristen, %where are you?
Last Line: I don't think he's your type
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


COOKIE MALDONADO: KRISTEN CLARKE, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Girl, you think you're fat?
Last Line: What's the matter with you, girl?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


COOL POOL, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: The park pool %is an isle of cool
Last Line: We bask in golden sun
Subject(s): Cities


COOPER'S HILL, by JOHN DENHAM    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis            
First Line: Sure there are poets which did never dream
Last Line: And knows no bound, but makes his power his shores.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


COQ D'OR, by JOHN BROOKS WHEELWRIGHT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The fountain is frozen in the plaza
Last Line: Will be tumbling about us.
Subject(s): Cities; News; Newspapers; War; Urban Life; Journalism; Journalists


CORLETT AVENUE, by MICHAEL CERAOLO    Poem Source                    
First Line: The closed school
Last Line: People light fires in barrels and attempt to ward off winter
Subject(s): Inner Cities


CORN SEED, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: This angle of moon
Last Line: Then we greet each other, this old woman and me, %while we listen to %all the movement in my house
Subject(s): California; Cities


COYOTEPEC, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The women potters
Last Line: Is a gesture of woman
Subject(s): Cities


CRACK, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You're more jive than pigmeat
Last Line: Sky, but there's no one left %to love you back to earth
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Cities


CROSSING OVER, by FRANK MURPHY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nobody walks on the water to get to bklyn
Last Line: Stop treating us like we lived in staten island
Subject(s): Cities


CUENCA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: We cities of the river
Last Line: Of leaves and trees
Subject(s): Cities


CUTOVER COUNTRY, by S. C. HAHN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Southwest of town, where the montreal river rushes black and cold
Last Line: Of earth and darkness and death
Subject(s): Cities; Montreal, Canada; Travel


DAVID KHALIL (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When we lived in the islands
Last Line: Maybe then I can heal the hole in my heart
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DAVID KHALIL (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Before we arrive, they have asked us
Last Line: Just a family atlas?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DAVID KHALIL: JOHNNY NESBITT, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My host, johnny, seems nice enough
Last Line: Or must I cover my eyes while he drives himself %to drink?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DAWN SONG, by THOMAS MCGRATH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The city lifts toward heaven from the continent of sleep
Last Line: And the footsteps of early workers are building the streets to the river
Subject(s): Cities; Dawn; Urban Life; Sunrise


DAY AT A TIME, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On the line in front of me
Last Line: Wheeling, and eating
Subject(s): Cities


DAY IN THE CITY, by DAVID WAGONER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dismounting from stools and benches, pouring through bars
Last Line: But who now heap under the raised lids, our old lives %before they are cold
Subject(s): Cities


DAY IN THE COUNTRY, by BARRY SILESKY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The attraction's undeniable. The haystacks lined up
Last Line: Find the right distance to see
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life


DAY OF THE DEAD, by PATRICIA SPEARS JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here is brooklyn
Last Line: Happy for the privilege
Subject(s): Brooklyn, New York; Cities


DEAD OF TEGUCIGALPA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And the dead of tegucigalpa
Last Line: Of the living
Subject(s): Cities


DEDICATION, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am irreverently
Last Line: The military
Subject(s): Cities


DEEP IN EUROPE, by TOMAS TRANSTROMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I a dark hull floating between two lock-gates
Last Line: The blackened cathedral, heavy as a moon, causes ebbs and flows
Subject(s): Cities; Europe; Streets; Travel; Urban Life; Avenues; Journeys; Trips


DEEP IN EUROPE, by TOMAS TRANSTROMER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I a dark hull floating between two lock-gates
Last Line: The blackened cathedral, heavy as a moon, causes ebb and flow
Subject(s): Cities; Europe; Streets; Travel


DEPTHS OF YOUR EYES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And in the depths of your eyes
Last Line: A weaver %of words
Subject(s): Cities


DESIRE, by LYNN EMANUEL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is not turner's venice
Last Line: Abating in the huge green hesitations of the trees
Subject(s): Cities; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Urban Life


DESIRE, by LYNN EMANUEL    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is not turner's venice
Last Line: The rare acres of stars, the thin wind %abating in the huge green hesitations of the trees
Subject(s): Cities; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


DESTINATIONS, by LEXIE DEAN ROBERTSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The dark highway is lighted
Last Line: Where there is only you.
Subject(s): Cities; Hearts; Love; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


DICTIONARY OF TERMINOLOGY, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's got to help you out %a bit
Last Line: W/ a squeegee %creating my own %job
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


DIET TO DIE FOR, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I live on air %and ashes
Last Line: Of dirty needles %drinking %my %tears
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


DINNER PARTY, by TONY TOWLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ah, life is a reassuring dream that is vivid but comfortably mundane
Last Line: Eating a free meal? What are you, some kind of shnook?'
Subject(s): Cities


DIRE REAR, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been rejected %and evicted so many
Last Line: Times, I shit doorknobs
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


DISCOURSE ON SANITY &WELL BEING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm on edge %because I'm on the ledge
Last Line: And what I need %to keep on breathing
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


DISCOVERING THE PHOTOGRAPH OF LLOYD, EARL, AND PRISCILLA, by LYNN EMANUEL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: These are the great discoveries of my middle age
Last Line: Its separate ghost
Subject(s): Bars & Bartenders; Cities; Pubs; Taverns; Saloons; Urban Life


DISCOVERING THE PHOTOGRAPH OF LLOYD, EARL, AND PRISCILLA, by LYNN EMANUEL    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: These are the great discoveries of my middle age
Last Line: Its separate ghost
Subject(s): Bars And Bartenders; Cities


DISCOVERY, by MARY D. SPENCE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Crowded city streets I trod
Last Line: Breathes of immortality.
Subject(s): Cities; God; Immortality; Streets; Urban Life; Avenues


DISTANCE, by DEBRA KANG DEAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've begun to acquire a taste
Last Line: One that I dwell on and now give back
Alternate Author Name(s): Dean, Debi Kang
Subject(s): Automobile Drivers; Cities; Travel


DO WHAT YOU CAN, by LAWRENCE JOSEPH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the church of I am she hears there is a time to heal
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


DO WHAT YOU CAN, by LAWRENCE JOSEPH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the church of I am she hears there is a time to heal
Last Line: The judge, looking down, will smile and say, %'then do what you can.'
Subject(s): Cities


DOING TIME IN BALTIMORE, by JUDITH BAUMEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the south of the city on a cold rainy february day
Last Line: Our bodies pushing out while the clocks pull in %in a struggle that becomes our dream of days
Subject(s): Baltimore, Maryland; Cities


DOOMED BRIGHT CITY, by MARGERY SWETT MANSFIELD    Poem Text                    
First Line: Remembering I had sold the sight
Last Line: No epitaph is needed for the race.
Subject(s): Apples; Cities; Flowers; Fruit; Urban Life


DOORMAN, by PAMELA SUTTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The doorman tries to hail a cab for me. He waves
Last Line: For hours; that I will see this the rest of my life
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Taxis


DOORWAYS, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The widows
Last Line: Without trails, without graves: %doorways
Subject(s): Cities


DOWN CENTRAL AVENUE, by MARK COLASURDO    Poem Source                    
First Line: The ghosts wail fast and furious here
Last Line: Down central avenue
Subject(s): Cities; Commuters


DR. ADOLPHUS HICKS, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 4 (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let's be practical here, folks
Last Line: Before we show it off to the world. %I vote no
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DR. ADOLPHUS HICKS, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 4 (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walk the streets at night
Last Line: And walk with me late at night back to my office
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DR. ADOLPHUS HICKS, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 4 (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The boy? %nothing serious, a sprained wrist
Last Line: Who did not find a home in our town
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DRAGON AND THE UNICORN: 5, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: New york a grey haze with flights of
Last Line: Across immeasurable distance
Subject(s): Cities; Dragons; Unicorns


DRASTIC DARK, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: The bureaucracies of monopoly capitalism
Last Line: That's trying %to keep %beating
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


DREAMING OF FIRE ON THE NIGHT IT RAINED, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am trapped in a house owned by strangers with white skin. I do not
Last Line: Watering the dry, dry wood. For now it is all I can do
Subject(s): California; Cities


DREAMS, by JOHN DRINKWATER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have our dreams; not happiness
Last Line: Nor care a penny what we dream
Subject(s): Cities; Dreams; Urban Life; Nightmares


DRESSES: FOUR OF MINE FOR NAIMA BALAHI, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So narrow they seem sewn
Last Line: Unable to wear them, unable to part with them
Subject(s): Cities


DRIFT, by MARY BONINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tonight the streets are dead
Last Line: He is sorry I'm out in the storm
Subject(s): Cities


DRIFTER, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Home is where my harley roars
Last Line: I can take yu away from all this.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DRIVE-BY SHOOTING, by ELIZABETH KRAJECK COHEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: By the time you read this
Last Line: From los angeles, a supernova %will be born
Subject(s): Cities


DROPOUT, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You don't want to know my name
Last Line: Nobody knows my name %I'm nobody
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


DYSENTERY FOR BEGINNERS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just as bowls %evict shit
Last Line: Like capitalism %is a brutal %motherfucker
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


EARLY MORNING IN MIDTOWN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can't get me
Last Line: No, you can't get me
Subject(s): California; Cities


EAST OF THE LIBRARY, ACROSS FROM THE ODD FELLOWS BUILDING, by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: That bummy smell you meet
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


EAST OF THE LIBRARY, ACROSS FROM THE ODD FELLOWS BUILDING, by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That bummy smell you meet
Last Line: Or the elderly couple from zurich %leafing coolly through their guidebook
Subject(s): Cities


EAT AT MOE'S, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Crispy, crunchy, golden brown
Last Line: As folk chow down at the greasy spoon
Subject(s): Cities


EDINBURGH, by WILLIAM MCGONAGALL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beautiful city of edinburgh!
Last Line: But that you are the grandest city in scotland at the present day!
Subject(s): Cities; Edinburgh, Scotland; Tourists; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


EDITH FROMER, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 3 (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whether we like it or not
Last Line: Of course I vote yes
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


EDITH FROMER, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 3 (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Do I have any doubts?
Last Line: We aren't animals, no doubt about it
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


EGYPT, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And though he will never
Last Line: On dangerous journeys
Subject(s): Cities


ELEGY FOR ALLEN, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Blue light at eight
Last Line: Enter with grace
Subject(s): Cities


ELEGY FOR MADRID, by CATHERINE RUFFING    Poem Source                    
First Line: I carry a city of five million on my back: I'm learning
Last Line: My goodbyes before I left. I say them now, a few each day
Subject(s): Cities; Spain; Travel


ELKHORN CITY, by EFFIE WALLER SMITH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O elkhorn city, little town!
Last Line: Around and over you.
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Love; Urban Life


EMINE AND HAMIDE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have this feeling you were beaufiful
Last Line: Of every size and shape and shade
Subject(s): Cities


EMPTY NEST SYNDROME, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Alone again
Last Line: And I too do %float away
Subject(s): Cities


ENCHANTED CITY, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you seek
Last Line: Like a remembrance
Subject(s): Cities


ENFLEURAGE, by JANE MILLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As from a water lily, periplum
Last Line: Unconsciously - and, white birds casting a dark shadow, fly out of themselves.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


ENVOI: WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK, by MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wind in the park %and the children swing
Last Line: In the world of the green
Subject(s): Cities


EPISTLE TO MISS TERESA BLOUNT, ON HER LEAVING THE TOWN, by ALEXANDER POPE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As some fond virgin, whom her mother's care
Last Line: Look sow'r, and hum a tune -- as you may now.
Variant Title(s): Epistle To Miss Blount, On Her Leaving The Town;to A Young Lady On Her Leaving The Town
Subject(s): Absence; Cities; Separation; Isolation; Urban Life


ESSAY: THE HANGING PARADOGS SLIP, by ELENI SIKELIANOS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is an octave between us
Last Line: To this you, you take it
Subject(s): Cities; Essays; Retail Trade; Urban Life; Stores; Shops; Shopkeepers


EVEN AFTER SHE LEAVES, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Light has been carried into this house
Last Line: To the same dark soil
Subject(s): California; Cities


EVENSONG, by CONRAD AIKEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This song is of no importance
Last Line: The perfect quiet that comes after rain.
Subject(s): Cities; Singing & Singers; Urban Life; Songs


EVERYBODY'S READING LI PO' SILKSCREENED ON A PURPLE T-SHIRT, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Li po who?
Last Line: What a diamond-studded %garter looks like?
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Cities; Li Po (701-762)


EXAMPLES, by MARY BONINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pressed to explain the word 'philosophy'
Last Line: He shook my hand'
Subject(s): Cities


EXPATRIATE, by ROSELLE MERCIER MONTGOMERY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: City towers that have prisoned me
Last Line: It will not be a dream!
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Urban Life


EXTENDED REMIX, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They follow you %to the grave
Last Line: Which neglected %to pay back %your loans!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FACE TO FACE, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Long weeks I walked the city's crowded ways
Last Line: I meet you, face to face!
Subject(s): Cities; Faces; God; Urban Life


FALLEN CITIES, by GERALD LOUIS GOULD    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I gathered with a careless hand
Last Line: By silent hill and idle bay!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


FAR AWAY, by JANE MILLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is weeping as is customary and good
Last Line: Lover no children no poetry
Subject(s): Cities; Grief; New York City; Urban Life; Sorrow; Sadness; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


FAT-FREE SUGGESTIONS FROM THE STATE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wash the soot off your rusty ass
Last Line: Strain the fat from your water %shower %shit %shave
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FATE OF A WOULD-BE FEMINIST OBSERVED FROM A STREET CORNER, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: She was abducted %by traffic cops
Last Line: For pronouncing %menage a trois %mangy twat
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FATHER'S STORY, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Each night the boy cries. The next morning a tiny white stone
Last Line: One stone our name
Subject(s): California; Cities


FIAT LUX, by LYNDA HULL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Static from the radio stippled gray as anesthesia dream
Alternate Author Name(s): Wojahn, David, Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


FIAT LUX, by LYNDA HULL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Static from the radio stippled gray as anesthesia dream
Last Line: The city floated %distant and celestial, brutal in its own rung music
Alternate Author Name(s): Wojahn, David, Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities


FIELD I STAND BEFORE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I spent so many years crouching
Last Line: In this wet, sore skin
Subject(s): California; Cities


FIELD TRIP, by CAROL ANNE MUSKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Downtown, on the precinct wall
Last Line: A policeman, here a crook. Here's a picture %of where I live, my street, my red dress. %our planet,
Subject(s): Cities


FINALLY NARCISSA, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The girl has found herself
Last Line: Her thoughts like wild vines
Subject(s): Cities


FINIAS, by WILLIAM SHARP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the torch-lit city of finias that flames on
Last Line: Here!
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Cities; Fire; Immortality; Laughter; Secrets; Urban Life


FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE LASTING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: You see me as %a puddle of piss
Last Line: That says %this could %be %you
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FISH, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I enter %to know the sound
Last Line: But is hardly spoken %out loud
Subject(s): California; Cities


FISH IN CHAINS, by JANE MILLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Along the hudson across manhattan to the triborough
Last Line: It nearly rained that's what people had to say
Subject(s): Cities; Courtship; Love - Beginnings; Love - Unrequited; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


FIVE NIGHTS OF RAIN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Open-throated, %wanting more
Last Line: Hear me, so %relentless the rain
Subject(s): California; Cities


FLASH, by LEE BENNETT HOPKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Signs on 42nd street %flash
Last Line: Fighting hard %to explode
Subject(s): Cities


FLATLANDERS, by MONICA YOUN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here the sky's all spreading belly
Last Line: Trying to shoot the fireworks out of the sky
Subject(s): Cities; Sky


FLOOD, by FRANCESCA ABBATE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here is the city of desire, city without roofs
Last Line: The dark sky marked by thin, white clouds. %the geese climbing
Subject(s): Cities; Floods


FLORENTINO DIAZ, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Has already figured out
Last Line: A greeting nobody else could see
Subject(s): California; Cities


FLOWER DAY, by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE    Poem Text                    
First Line: On flower day the gardens came
Last Line: On flower day.
Subject(s): Cities; Poverty; Urban Life


FOGHORNS, by LILIAN MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The foghorns moaned
Last Line: Crying in its sleep
Subject(s): Cities


FOR MY DAUGHTERS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They call each other
Last Line: See we tender %women %live %on
Subject(s): Cities


FOR POETS WHO WANNA BE COMEDIANS WHEN WE DYIN &AIN'T A DAMN THING...., by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh ha ha hee hee %hoo hoo ho ho
Last Line: -ha-ha-ha- %ain't that a bitch %we dyin
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FOR THAT DAY ONLY; NEW YORK, JUNE 11, 1883, by GRACE SCHULMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daybreak, and she left her poppy-seed roll
Last Line: The next day and the next one and the next
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


FOR THE NEW WORLD, by EDWARD HIRSCH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first idea was man walking through space in a tower
Last Line: The first idea was man walking through space in a tower
Subject(s): Buildings & Builders; Chicago; Cities; Urban Life


FOR THE NEW WORLD, by EDWARD HIRSCH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first idea was man walking through space in a tower
Last Line: The first idea was man walking through space in a tower
Subject(s): Buildings And Builders; Chicago; Cities


FOREBODING, by GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Why do these tragic fancies throng
Last Line: The way is pity, margaret.
Alternate Author Name(s): A. E.
Subject(s): Cities; Future Life; God; Urban Life; Retribution; Eternity; After Life


FORECAST, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In my youth %I aspired to be %a weatherman
Last Line: From head to toe %in skin flakes
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FORGETTING, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Exiled brutally
Last Line: For the returns home
Subject(s): Cities


FORGIVING THE TRAVELER, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Every five years his love
Last Line: Sometime I'll be real
Subject(s): Cities


FORTUNE COOKIES FOR THE RICH, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: After every meal %may you be overcome
Last Line: & see things %from my %perspective
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FOUR HAIKU (AFTER TALKING WITH DAVID), by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: It begins here -- %young men vanish in the night
Last Line: It commands no one
Subject(s): California; Cities


FOURTEEN, by NORA LAWRENCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shouting back at the macho men
Last Line: But the bullshit excited me anyway
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Teenagers


FRAGMENT (1), by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The silence of a city, how awful at midnight!
Last Line: Of her huge temples.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


FRAGMENTS INTENDED FOR DEATH'S JEST-BOOK: A SUBTERRANEAN CITY, by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I followed once a fleet and mighty serpent
Last Line: Whose earthquake-shaken leaves bore graves for nests.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


FRANK AND MARILYN LANGER, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Honey, I know you're tired
Last Line: Picking up our package marked 'special delivery.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


FREDDIE, IN MEMORIAM, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I used to know a man
Last Line: The way I never did %before
Subject(s): Cities


FREEWAY, by WILLIAM WITHERUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: An infected vein %carrying filth to and from the city
Last Line: To enclose the view %and muffle the screams
Subject(s): Automobile Drivers; Berkeley, California; Cities


FRIENDSHIP, by RICHARD LOURIE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ron and gary have aids - gary will die
Last Line: So good-bye gary - here's a kiss on the cheek
Subject(s): Cities


FROM AN AIRPLANE, SELS., by HARRY BEHN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Night settles on earth
Last Line: A nest of fireflies
Subject(s): Cities


FROM FOUR HETTIES, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is for hettie barnes
Last Line: Forty years later I send the same
Subject(s): Cities


FROM THE CITY, by ALLAN UPDEGRAFF    Poem Text                    
First Line: On every side the endless, hurrying press
Last Line: And yet not all; one lacking -- can you guess?
Subject(s): Cities; Yale University; Urban Life


FROM THE TRAIN WINDOW, by GRACE MANSFIELD    Poem Text                    
First Line: Lost children, and hurt dogs
Last Line: The great dumps of the city!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


FUEGO, by DIONISIO D. MARTINEZ    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Where this train stops not even the engineer
Last Line: Tenuous glow in the caldron of its calloused hands
Subject(s): Cities


FURTHER COMPLAINTS FROM AN UNGRATEFUL TENANT, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Eviction %eviction %what's your %prescription
Last Line: Except for dogs %they always leave %something
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


FURTHER DELIBERATIONS ON DEATH, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: All rise! %this court is now in session
Last Line: At a later date %if need be %order in the court!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


GABRIELA'S ELQUI, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And on heavy
Last Line: And she is singing
Subject(s): Cities


GARDENIAS, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And first comes a fragrance wafting
Last Line: Wild, abandoned %love
Subject(s): Cities


GATHERING OF OLD WINOS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: -my first wife %was a pack of pall malls
Last Line: She got her own self pregnant %and delivered the baby as well
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


GEBIR: 5, by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once a fair city, courted then by kings
Last Line: "take this,"" she cried, ""and gebir is no more."
Variant Title(s): Masar
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Egypt; Giants; Nymphs; Urban Life; Dead, The


GEORGE AND EMILY GIBSON, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Honey, I know you're tired
Last Line: It'll be all right, you'll see
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


GHAZAL FROM THE DROWNED CITY, by JENNIFER ATKINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: A map of the stars is an icon
Last Line: Of waiting, the purple-robed advent of cold
Variant Title(s): Another Ghazal From The Drowned Cit
Subject(s): Cities; Drowning


GHAZAL FROM THE DROWNED CITY: LINES WRITTEN UNDER THE GILT AND ...., by JENNIFER ATKINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I set myself adrift under the piecemeal, puzzled
Last Line: Who can keep strict account of all the tides have taken and given %these days?
Subject(s): Cities; Drowning; Water; Weather


GIFT AND COUNTRY IN THE FALL: A LONG-DISTANCE ECLOGUE, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Morrison. Hello! Hello! Is that you, wetherbee?
Last Line: Later, you'd better look for us in town.
Alternate Author Name(s): Howells, W. D.
Subject(s): Autumn; Cities; Country Life; Seasons; Fall; Urban Life


GLASGOW, by ALEXANDER SMITH    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Sing, poet, 'tis a merry world
Last Line: Dwells in thy noise and smoky breath.
Subject(s): Cities; Glasgow, Scotland; Urban Life


GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fascism is a virtual reality
Last Line: To be so %unfortunate
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


GOOD FRIDAY. DRIVING WESTWARD, by ELIZABETH SPIRES    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The rain. Rain that will not end
Last Line: This endless road with all the others. %night and night's eternity coming on
Subject(s): Cities


GOOD OLD PAINT, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The car shows my hand
Last Line: And me %I burn rubber
Subject(s): Cities


GOOD SHEPHERD: ATLANTA, 1981, by FLORENCE ANTHONY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I lift the boy's body
Last Line: Only god is never satisfied
Alternate Author Name(s): Ai
Subject(s): Atlanta, Georgia; Cities


GOOD THIEF SPEAKS AGAIN, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I guess you're wondering %what I'm doing
Last Line: But from here on end: %consider me a political prisoner
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


GRAFFITI, by JANE YOLEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I read a sad poem %on the wall
Last Line: Who has to use a wall %to write a poem
Subject(s): Cities


GRANADA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I too went
Last Line: In an eclipse %of poetry
Subject(s): Cities


GRAVEL PATHS, by PATRICIA HUBBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel crinkled when I walk on gravel paths
Last Line: And sneaker-shod %up many gravel paths
Subject(s): Cities


GREEN PLACES IN THE CITY, by MARY ELIZABETH HEWITT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ye fill my heart with gladness, verdant places
Last Line: We, by these glimpses, may remember thee!
Alternate Author Name(s): Moore, Mary Elizabeth
Subject(s): Cities; Gardens & Gardening; Urban Life


GREETING, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The boy with yellow hair
Last Line: Pleased as he calls out, 'tonto.'
Subject(s): California; Cities


GROTESQUE, by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The city has tits in rows
Last Line: Against her stomach.
Subject(s): Cities


GROWING ROOM, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: My room is small
Last Line: A room to grow %in love and grace
Subject(s): Cities


HALT ON THE CANAL, by PAUL CLAUDEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now, -- passing the place where old men and women congregate
Last Line: Dim earth of the fields of colzas shine like blows of light
Subject(s): Canals; China; Cities


HAND DANCING, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Friday nights, my parents
Last Line: I bet they were really something
Subject(s): Cities


HAND-ME_DOWNS RIGHT OVER, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I often wear %dead people's clothes
Last Line: In exchange %for a %quarter
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


HANDOUTS FROM THE CHURCH, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: It must be sobering %to know that
Last Line: It must be sobering %not having to see me
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


HANDS, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In your hands
Last Line: The flesh of desire
Subject(s): Cities


HARBOR LIGHTS, by MARK DOTY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm coming home through the red lacquered lobby
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


HARBOR LIGHTS, by MARK DOTY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm coming home through the red lacquered lobby
Last Line: Of appearances behind her window, %her glaze of rain, her veil
Subject(s): Cities


HARD DRIVE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saturday the stuffed bears were up again
Variant Title(s): Untitled (teddy Bears On The Highway)
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


HARD DRIVE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saturday the stuffed bears were up again
Last Line: To drive my car in any direction
Variant Title(s): Untitled (teddy Bears On The Highway
Subject(s): Cities


HARE KRISHNA HAUTE COUTURE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The hare krishna hang their robes
Last Line: Of those of us who offer up our %bloomers to the city
Subject(s): Cities


HARLAN JONES, EDITOR, HUDSON VALLEY SENTINEL (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Editorial: %at last week's town council meeting, we noted with inter
Last Line: Have much to show and tell them. We hope it will be a week- %end they never forget
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HARLAN JONES, EDITOR, HUDSON VALLEY SENTINEL (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Editorial %one death, %one life
Last Line: The one that did not take care of its children
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HARLAN JONES, EDITOR, HUDSON VALLEY SENTINEL (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Editor's note
Last Line: Named 'the a tones'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HAVING BEEN HER, by HETTIE JONES            Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: On the bus
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


HAVING BEEN HER, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On the bus
Last Line: Having been her %befriend her
Subject(s): Cities


HEAD DOWN, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: He knows he can't play the flute
Last Line: He'll have enough to pay for bite and bed
Subject(s): Begging And Beggars; Cities; Homeless; Music And Musicians


HEADLIGHTS, by NORA LAWRENCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The lights from the fdr drive streak by
Last Line: They're not thinking about me
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Teenagers


HEIGHTS OF MACCHU PICCHU: 6, by NEFTALI RICARDO REYES BASUALTO    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Then up the ladder of the earth I climbed
Last Line: Cleansing the lonely precinct of the stone
Alternate Author Name(s): Neruda, Pablo
Subject(s): Cities; Mountain Climbing; Stones


HENRY MADDOX, PASTOR, NEW DELIVERENCE CHURCH (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: God loves a cheerful giver.'
Last Line: He should be made of whole cloth
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HENRY MADDOX, PASTOR, NEW DELIVERENCE CHURCH (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've come down to the jail to see
Last Line: I got a few vcrs to fix, winter's comin' soon
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HICKS MANOR, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I sit just north of town
Last Line: You can hear me breathing
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HIGHLIGHTS OF A BEGGAR'S RESUME, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: His high school %senior class
Last Line: Bottles %to make %a full beer
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


HILL OF BEANS, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: One spring the circus gave
Last Line: Beyond the tracks, the city blazed %as if looks were everything
Subject(s): Cities


HISTORY OF WAR IN FIVE ACTS: 1, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They are fighting this morning
Last Line: In the small deserted pool
Subject(s): Cities


HISTORY OF WAR IN FIVE ACTS: 2, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Picture this
Last Line: In that green %country
Subject(s): Cities


HISTORY OF WAR IN FIVE ACTS: 3. JUSTICE IS JUST ICE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: High in a silent house
Last Line: Freedom from fear
Subject(s): Cities


HISTORY OF WAR IN FIVE ACTS: 4. ALPHA AGAINST APARTHEID, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A for the thing itself and its antithesis anc
Last Line: Z azania, who still a again and again allow it
Subject(s): Cities


HISTORY OF WAR IN FIVE ACTS: 5. SARAJEVO 1995, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's warm here in the sun
Last Line: Their fading, year-old traces
Subject(s): Cities


HOBOKEN EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, by JOEL LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the middle %of the jersey junction viaduct
Last Line: Like he owned the empty, sleeping city %in his head
Subject(s): Cities


HOCKNEY: BLUE POOL, by DAVID TRINIDAD    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Los angeles, / california: / a summer afternoon
Subject(s): Cities; Hockney, David (b. 1937); Gays & Lesbians; Lakes; Los Angeles; Urban Life; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men; Pools; Ponds


HOCKNEY: BLUE POOL, by DAVID TRINIDAD    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Los angeles, %california: %a summer afternoon
Last Line: Snaps a photograph %of the splash
Subject(s): Cities; Hockney, David (b. 1937); Homosexuality; Lakes; Los Angeles


HOMAGE TO FRANK O'HARA'S PERSONAL POEM, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Over and over the mind returns
Last Line: Over and over
Subject(s): Cities


HOME: DEEP, TO THE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: All the way home. Home at last. Home free
Subject(s): Cities


HOMELESS SUE COPS FOR KIDNAPPING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the wealthiest cities %in the richest country
Last Line: Abduct rich people %off downtown streets
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


HOMING INSTINCT, by MARK JARMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There we see him, driving
Last Line: And mix it with his nerves, %and make it honey
Subject(s): Cities


HONOLULU, by ROBERT MAZZOCCO    Poem Source                    
First Line: There are quays here
Last Line: In plumeria leaves and red chiffon %waves a farewell and a huge black taxi departs
Subject(s): Cities; Honolulu


HORIZONS, by CHRISTIE JEFFRIES    Poem Text                    
First Line: Where canyon walls of cities rise
Last Line: Immeasurable and limitless.
Subject(s): Cities; Walls; Urban Life


HORIZONTAL SNAPSHOTS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: A big %buzz %w/ propellers
Last Line: Snapshots %from an epileptic %eyelash
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


HOT THOUGHT, by VICTOR HERNANDEZ CRUZ    Poem Source                    
First Line: The idea that something called
Last Line: Before they both melt
Subject(s): Cities; Ponce De Leon, Juan (1460-1521); Puerto Rico; West Indies


HOTTER THAN JULY, 1982, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Only the messengers and me
Last Line: Lookin good and movin fast
Subject(s): Cities


HOUDINI HOLDS THE WORLD, by BECKY RODIA    Poem Source                    
First Line: When he'd screwed the last
Last Line: On the backs of his hands %they floated willfully into the palms
Subject(s): Cities; Hallucinations And Illusions; Magic


HUDSON VALLEY SENTINEL (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Body found in lake
Last Line: Down a ravine, killing three and injuring ten
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HUDSON VALLEY SENTINEL (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Manager of grand royale set to leave
Last Line: Manager until a replacement for mr. Clarke can be found
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HUDSON VALLEY SENTINEL: CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INSERT, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Antiques and christmas shop
Last Line: It hasn't been made yet.' %lake st
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


HUNGER, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Each day my shadow %loses weight
Last Line: With little %or no choices
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


HURON AVENUE, by MICHAEL CERAOLO    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the lenghtening shadows of the downtown skyscrapers and early evenings
Last Line: The season souvenir sellers that have sprouted, weedlike, on the sidewalk
Subject(s): Inner Cities


I CREATE MY OWN JOB, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I collect tips %at atms
Last Line: Hey, dude, %all life does %is prolong death' %and slaps me five
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


I DO TOO, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know some of you %would like %to throw
Last Line: For something %I do too
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


I NEVER HEAR MYSELF SLEEPING, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Never know what triggers
Last Line: My tiny jagged grin
Subject(s): California; Cities


I SAW THREE TEMPLES, by ROSELLE MERCIER MONTGOMERY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I saw three temples, dead and desolate,
Last Line: And all about them blooms the flower of death!
Subject(s): Cities; Paestum, Italy; Temples; Urban Life; Mosques


I SEE A TRUCK, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see a truck mowing down a parade
Last Line: Working for a living
Subject(s): Cities; Labor & Laborers; Urban Life; Work; Workers


I SEE A TRUCK, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see a truck mowing down a parade
Last Line: It is a holiday called %'working for a living'
Subject(s): Cities; Labor And Laborers


I SOUGHT A GARDEN OF BONES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've come seeking these
Last Line: Give me my bones, my captain
Subject(s): Cities


I WENT AMONG THE MEAN STREETS, by MARK VAN DOREN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Beware. There will be judgment, %with witnesses
Subject(s): Cities


IDEAL CITY, by LINDA PASTAN            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Set in the silence of pure perspective
Last Line: With the scarlet graffiti of laughter
Subject(s): Cities; Italy; Pleasure


IN A CITY PARK, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A stretch of lawn as smooth as happiness
Last Line: A beauty, and a promise, and a dream.
Subject(s): Beauty; Cities; Parks; Sin; Urban Life


IN A ROOM NAMED SHIMMER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The woman folds underwear
Last Line: And longing more insistent
Subject(s): California; Cities


IN A STRANGE CITY, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dusk-and a hunger for your face
Last Line: And I am lonelier than ever.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael
Subject(s): Cities; Solitude; Urban Life; Loneliness


IN AMERICA YELLOW IS STILL AN INSULT, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want to know why cowards are called yellow
Last Line: And know the legacy of insult
Subject(s): California; Cities


IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I write a hall
Last Line: And I write with time in my one %good hand
Subject(s): Cities


IN CITIES, by CALE YOUNG RICE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In cities you watch the way of wind with smoke
Last Line: Delights deeper than any a city divines.
Subject(s): Beauty; Cities; Hearts; Memory; Trees; Urban Life


IN CITY PENT, by WILLIAM WATSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O, sweet at this sweet hour to wander free
Last Line: Dancing and prancing in mad caprioles.
Alternate Author Name(s): Watson, John William
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


IN DUBROVNIK, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In dubrovnik
Last Line: In windstorms
Subject(s): Cities


IN HEAVEN'S ALLEY, by HUMBERT WOLFE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The tap the double drop
Last Line: The limb of a birch %stitch another white sail in the rain
Subject(s): Cities; City Traffic; Escapes


IN MEMORIAM, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mother, my heart burned
Last Line: Eyeing its own horizons
Subject(s): Cities


IN OAXACA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And though you weren't with me
Last Line: And silver wedding rings
Subject(s): Cities


IN OTHER NEWS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Clarence thomas declares: %'I'm no uncle tom!!!'
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


IN PRAISE OF CITIES, by THOMSON WILLIAM GUNN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Indifferent to the indifference that conceived her
Last Line: Extreme, material, and the work of man
Alternate Author Name(s): Gunn, Thom
Subject(s): Cities


IN PRAISE OF NEW YORK, by THOMAS M. DISCH    Poem Source                    
First Line: As we rise above it, row after row
Last Line: Where for weeks they will dream of our faces %drenched with an unbelievable light
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


IN THE CITY, by RICHARD THOMAS LE GALLIENNE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Away from the silent hills and the talking of
Last Line: And under her shadowed hair the gardens of paradise.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


IN THE DARK CITY, by JOHN HALL WHEELOCK    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a harper plays
Last Line: The passion and sorrow of the eternal doom?
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tonight she brings
Last Line: Her shining %black eyes
Subject(s): Cities


IN THE FIRE LANE, by THULANI DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: We are deadly decadent anarchists
Last Line: To move up the street %that goes there
Subject(s): Cities


IN THE INNER CITY, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Like we call it %home
Subject(s): Cities; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations


IN THE METRO, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Around here %you don't know %what will take %you out
Last Line: In this life %death has %many dis %guises
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


IN THIS CITY, by SALVATORE QUASIMODO    Poem Source                    
First Line: This city has even got the machine
Last Line: Or elsewhere. Come, the switch is on
Subject(s): Cities


IN TOWN, by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Toiling in town now is 'horrid'
Last Line: Toiling in town now is 'horrid.'
Alternate Author Name(s): Dobson, Austin
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


IN TOWN, by LOUIS JONES MAGEE    Poem Text                    
First Line: We dwellers on the city street
Last Line: Or roof of thatch.
Subject(s): Cities; Towns; Urban Life


INCISORS OF DAWN, by VICKI HUDSPITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hello darkness %I wake to sleep
Last Line: By not even trying to blend in %with their surroundings
Subject(s): Cities


INLAND CITY, by JOHN CROWE RANSOM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She lies far inland, and no stick nor stone of her
Last Line: Moor in my little boats vigilantly!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


INLAND CITY, by JOHN CROWE RANSOM    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She lies far inland, and no stick nor stone of her
Last Line: But ye walls and gateposts, and ye halls and gardens, %moor in my little boats vigilantly!
Subject(s): Cities


INSCRIPTION FOR A CITY'S GATE OF WARRIORS, by HENRI FRANCOIS JOSEPH DE REGNIER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fear not the shadow! Open, lofty gate
Last Line: Stains of clear blood from sandals steeped in red.
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Kisses; Lips; War; Urban Life; Dead, The


INSIDE THE CITY, by AMY KENNA    Poem Source                    
First Line: You wake up one morning %you realize that you are in a city. The sprawl
Last Line: And then you %stop worrying
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Teenagers


INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE GUILLOTINE FOR THOSE WHO CRAVE NICOTINE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They got a %cure & a pill
Last Line: Capitalism is more hazardous %to your health any day
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


INVESTIGATING 1: JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I didn't see her all night.'
Last Line: Maybe her father picked her up.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


INVESTIGATING 2: JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: So what do I have?
Last Line: I'll be right down, you just stay put
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


INVISIBLE BODIES, by ATTIPAT KRISHNASWAMI RAMANUJAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Turning the corner of the street
Last Line: To the girl under the twirling parasol
Subject(s): Cities; Life


IRMA MULLER, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Irma muller
Last Line: In a bed %of flowers
Subject(s): Cities


ISLA NEGRA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: On isla negra
Last Line: To the origin of things
Subject(s): Cities


IVORY, by MARIO LUZI    Poem Source                    
First Line: The ever-dark cypress is alive
Last Line: Never to be heaped with flowers
Subject(s): Cities; Travel


IVY LANE (A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LOVE SONG), by CLINTON SCOLLARD    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ivy lane in devon
Last Line: That's the place for me!
Subject(s): Cities; Devonshire, England; London; Love; Urban Life


J'S THE JUMPING JAY-WALKER, by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: And the traffic into jam
Alternate Author Name(s): Hayden, Charles, Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities


JANUARY IN DETROIT OR SEARCH FOR TOMORROW STARRING KEN & ANN, by KEN MIKOLOWSKI    Poem Source                    
First Line: I think it is interesting
Last Line: Though not exactly amusing
Subject(s): Cities; Detroit, Michigan


JASON PALMER (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've known the same group of kids for so long
Last Line: I figure it's time for me and my friends to check %her out
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JASON PALMER (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kwame? %what kind of name is that?
Last Line: Not that there's anything wrong with that
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JASON PALMER (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The train track
Last Line: And he takes the next train back home?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JAZZ FAN LOOKS BACK, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I crisscrossed with monk
Last Line: Jazz at the philharmonic
Subject(s): Cities; Jazz; Music And Musicians


JERUSALEM, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jerusalem, %city with her
Last Line: Dreams of peace
Subject(s): Cities


JERUSALEM II, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wake up
Last Line: Bound returns
Subject(s): Cities


JERUSALEM OF THE SILENCES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In an old worn silence
Last Line: Behind the stones
Subject(s): Cities


JESUS TURNS ASPHALT INTO BREAD, by HAYAN CHARARA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Interstate 94, at milepost 210
Last Line: I've been doing this my entire life
Subject(s): Cities; Detroit, Michigan


JEWS OF DUBROVNIK, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The twenty - two jews of dubrovnik
Last Line: And embracing they remain forever in the fire's %silence
Subject(s): Cities


JOE FROMER, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Happened like this, john
Last Line: You gonna arrest anybody soon, john?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHANNESBURG JACARANDA, by MARY FERRARI    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city of johannesburg violently rejects
Last Line: Of numerous sons and daughters %beneath fading jacarandas
Subject(s): Cities


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My name is john erikson
Last Line: But now we are fully awake, screaming bloody murder
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr. Ziegl, annie
Last Line: You have a good time, you hear?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes? %yes, ned
Last Line: Everything'll be all right
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Guess I'll head over to the school
Last Line: Wonder if they remembered to turn off the lights in the gym
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (5), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look, I can hold the boy for twenty-four hours
Last Line: You better go, ollie. I got work to do
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (6), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't know if we're speaking the same language
Last Line: We got all the time in the world
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (7), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Son, %listen, I have a boy of my own
Last Line: He doesn't speak to me either
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (8), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You hear on the news whenever they catch a murderer
Last Line: It can't be you, oliver, can it?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE (9), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kwame, you can go home now
Last Line: Kwame, you aren't guilty of anything. %we are
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHN ERIKSON, TOWN CONSTABLE: DR. ADOLPHUS HICKS, TOWN BOARD MEMBER 4, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Evening, doc
Last Line: And see to my new patients
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHNNY NESBITT (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ms. Gardiner, I really can't take yur history test
Last Line: Maybe they should just bring back prohibition
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHNNY NESBITT (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My father used to take me fishing
Last Line: He doesn't have the time for it anymore
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHNNY NESBITT (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My parents split up 'bout three years ago
Last Line: It's the first thing we've done together in years
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOHNNY NESBITT (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well, it's me and mom here
Last Line: Hey, I think I can see the bus coming in now
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOLENE HANKS, OWNER, HUDSON HARDWARE (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: To the summer people, looking for the simpler life
Last Line: This time they're real
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOLENE HANKS, OWNER, HUDSON HARDWARE (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: We knew about %the stories that hover over this town like a fog
Last Line: And turned the other way
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


JOTTINGS: THE EDGE OF THE POSSIBLE, by JAMES OPPENHEIM    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Vast is the city, concealing fires behind its walls, its
Last Line: Tripping along, breathless, on the edge of the possible.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


JOURNEY, by PADRAIG J. DALY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Day after day %the caravans move through the hot sun
Last Line: As if ahead somewhere near destination; %and somewhere stillness
Subject(s): Caravans; Cities; Roads; Travel


JOY OF SOCKS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I once gave %a pair of socks
Last Line: To put them on %his burning bleeding feet
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


JUBILEE SONG, by JAMES NORTH    Poem Text                    
First Line: All hail to atlantic! This festival 'wakens
Last Line: Move to the strains of the glad jubilee.
Subject(s): Cities; Sea; Urban Life; Ocean


JUDGMENT & CRITICISM, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know, I know: %my reputation precedes me
Last Line: Take your time, %I don't mean to pester you
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


KARMIC NEWS FLASH, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: A twins tower %five alarm fire
Last Line: &roasting marshmellows %with rodents %in their mouths
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


KATHMANDU, by SAMRAT UPADHYAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: 2 a.M. When the city streets
Last Line: We are beautiful, they think
Subject(s): Cities; Morning; Streets


KATIE FUNG (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: That's my mother
Last Line: Just let my mother try to reach me %there
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KATIE FUNG (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My father thinks I am a china star
Last Line: There are a lot more stars visible, %shining brilliantly
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KEEP DRIVING, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Atsuko / steering her smooth burgundy car
Last Line: Leave.
Subject(s): Cities; Driving & Drivers; Japan; Streets; Urban Life; Japanese; Avenues


KEYS TO THE CITY, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Fascinating compelling
Last Line: In the harmattan %of your head
Subject(s): Cities


KRISTEN CLARKE (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was eight when I lost
Last Line: Pick me, pick me
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KRISTEN CLARKE (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes, %I think I hear footsteps
Last Line: Do you think im being paranoid?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KRISTEN CLARKE (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, daddy, you were worried?
Last Line: Oh, daddy, you were worried? %that's so silly
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KRISTEN CLARKE (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I chase the horizon once more
Last Line: And not limp back, ashamed, to hudson landing, %after nightfall
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KRISTEN CLARKE (5), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's not much to do in hudson landing
Last Line: Their fragile, sad messages to the world
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KRISTEN CLARKE (6), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When my boyfriend and me make love
Last Line: Maybe there'll be a couple of cute guys on it
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KUMQUAT SEED DANCER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last night I saw
Last Line: My own face %recognized in gesture
Subject(s): California; Cities


KWAME RICHARDS (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I bury my head in my studies once more
Last Line: And not crawl back, ignorant, to the projects %after nightfall
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was eight when the fire
Last Line: We moved to the projects the next month
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: From the window in my building, high up
Last Line: The view from my window, high up
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am not a slave on the niger
Last Line: I really hope he is color-blind
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (5), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ja... %son
Last Line: Me... %please
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (6), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: What's up with this?
Last Line: I didn't do anything, %I swear it
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (7), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr. Ziegel, you know me, you taught me
Last Line: You think I need a lawyer?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS (8), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can go home now?
Last Line: I can't wait
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


KWAME RICHARDS: JASON PALMER, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was in the ninth grade
Last Line: Black and white
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


LA NOCHE, by ANSELM HOLLO    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The wind let loose in the dark
Last Line: For the long journey across a room
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


LAST NIGHT IN ELVISVILLE, by LYDIA TOMKIW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Even memphis smells pretty
Last Line: So much wanting whatever we can get
Subject(s): Cities; Memphis, Tennessee; Presley, Elvis (1937-1977)


LAST PASSENGER PIGEON IN THE CINCINNATI ZOO, by LUCIE BROCK-BROIDO    Poem Source                    
First Line: An annulment of a species is as keen
Last Line: Case of an unfolding species unwinding, beautifully
Subject(s): Cincinnati, Ohio; Cities; Zoos


LAST REQUEST, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the event %that I shit
Last Line: Off my feet %on the white house lawn
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


LATER, by BRENDA COULTAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Thought I'd never 'look like money.' (august 1, 2001)
Last Line: Table in trash can and walked away. (september 4, 2001, houston & %elizabeth)
Subject(s): Cities


LATIN MUSIC IN NEW YORK, by JESSICA TARAHATA HAGEDORN                        Poet's Biography
First Line: Made me dance with you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hagedorn, Jessica
Subject(s): Cities; Hispanic Americans; Urban Life; Latinos


LATIN MUSIC IN NEW YORK, by JESSICA TARAHATA HAGEDORN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Made me dance with you
Last Line: You %and %you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hagedorn, Jessica
Subject(s): Cities; Hispanic Americans


LATIN NIGHT AT THE PAWNSHOP, by MARTIN ESPADA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The apparition of a salsa band
Last Line: Like the city morgue ticket %on a dead man's toe
Subject(s): Cities; Hispanic Americans


LAUNDROMAT, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: When the laundromat opens %at seven-thirty
Last Line: I were still three months old
Subject(s): Cities


LAW, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't panhandle in the subway
Last Line: Nor can I %afford %to die
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


LAZY RUSS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've walked %through %many rooms
Last Line: Open wound %of street graters
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


LAZY THOUGHT, by EVE MERRIAM    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There go the grownups
Last Line: Of slow %to grow
Alternate Author Name(s): Moskovitz, Eva
Subject(s): Cities


LECTURE ON ART & EATING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the new york winter %which lasts 12 months
Last Line: It beats eating %glass
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


LESSONS, by HARVEY SHAPIRO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: At park place you make out
Last Line: And the whole future of the race
Subject(s): Cities


LESSONS FROM CENTRAL AMERICA, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Always start with the male children
Last Line: And shoes for their feet
Subject(s): California; Cities


LETTER FROM A CITY DWELLER, by PETER DAVISON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Only from islands can you shape a city
Last Line: When you haven't caught sight of a smile in ages, %don't hestitate. Take passage for the city
Subject(s): Cities


LETTER FROM NEW YORK, by JOANNA FUHRMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black buckets of frogs absorb
Last Line: Green jell-o into the emerald city mold
Subject(s): Cities


LETTER TO A GHETTO BOY THREE THOUSAND MILES AWAY, by ANNIE LEE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tried to forget you, boy
Last Line: Love of my innocence, even after I left, flew away like you said and tried to forget
Subject(s): Cities; Ghettos; High School Students; Letters; Teenagers


LEXICON, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Try not to be insulted
Last Line: Don't expect them to ask us our real names. %don't even try
Subject(s): California; Cities


LIE-AWAKE SONGS: 2, by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR    Poem Text                    
First Line: The city is so kind to me
Last Line: Or is it just -- the city?
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


LIES AND LONGING, by LINDA GREGG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Half the women are asleep on the floor
Subject(s): Cities; Greece; Women; Urban Life; Greeks


LIES AND LONGING, by LINDA GREGG    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Half the women are asleep on the floor
Last Line: It's thirtieth street and hot and no sun
Subject(s): Cities; Greece; Women


LIGHT LUNCH, by ROSALYN STEWART    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city is rouged with roses
Last Line: Leaving its film on my fingers
Subject(s): Cities; Lunch


LIKE CITIES, LIKE STORMS, by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: A foot off the ground, / but holding
Subject(s): Cities; Music & Musicians; Memory


LINE, by COLE SWENSEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Packages under her arm
Last Line: Is coming and every step is taking %her deeper into the new world
Subject(s): Cities


LINES TO ACCOMPANY FLOWERS FOR EVE, by CAROLYN KIZER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The florist was told, cyclamen or azalea
Last Line: Though once we lay and waited for a death.
Subject(s): Cities; Drugs & Drug Abuse; Flowers; Hospitals; Women; Women's Rights; Urban Life; Narcotics; Opium; Cocaine; Crack; Heroin; Feminism


LINES WRITEN IN A PITTSBURGH SKYSCRAPER, by DIANE ACKERMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: It has taken me three years
Last Line: Carnal, mute, wholly flowing, %unburdened toward a distant shore
Subject(s): Cities; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


LITTLE L. A. VILLANELLE, by CAROL ANNE MUSKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I drove home that night in the rain
Last Line: After months of drought, the old refrain
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles


LITTLE LIGHT VERSE FOR HELENE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This was the first verse about us
Last Line: We take hold %take the light %heart
Subject(s): Cities


LIVING ALONE, by DOUGLAS GOETSCH    Poem Source                    
First Line: You take the homeless guy
Last Line: Cooking as you climb the stairs
Subject(s): Cities; Long Island (n.y.); Suburbs


LOLITA ROSENBAUM (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's been a bad week
Last Line: I wonder, did thoreau ever have to take the sat's?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


LOLITA ROSENBAUM (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I first saw valerie van garp
Last Line: I think we're gonna get along just great
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


LOLITA ROSENBAUM: VALERIE VAN GARP, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Val, let me tell you about the city
Last Line: Sometimes I feel I'm just full of crap
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


LONDON, by ANNIE MATHESON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Let shepherds carol of the pearly mead
Last Line: The human soul not yet regenerate.
Subject(s): Cities; London; Shepherds & Shepherdesses; Urban Life


LONDON BY LAMPLIGHT, by GEORGE MEREDITH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There stands a singer in the street
Last Line: That throngs the shameless song this night!
Subject(s): Cities; London; Singing & Singers; Urban Life


LONELINESS IS..., by BRITTANY BRUCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cold like wet sand
Last Line: Loneliness is
Subject(s): Cities


LONG WAY FROM HERE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two boys sleep %by the trunk of a banyan tree
Last Line: Fall asleep in each other's arms, %lightheaded and full
Subject(s): California; Cities


LOOK AT HOW WE LIVE, LOOK AT HOW WE DIE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It doesn't happen that death's door
Last Line: And he was only one, only one
Subject(s): Cities


LOS ANGELES, by MARK JARMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In that city we were perfect
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles; Urban Life


LOS ANGELES, by MARK JARMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In that city we were perfect
Last Line: At times, we hover over, knowing, %helpless, looking on
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles


LOSS AND WASTE, by JEAN INGELOW    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Up to far osteroe and suderoe
Last Line: To see the lost things found, and waste things used.
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Loss; Sea; Urban Life; Ocean


LOTTIE AND OSCAR, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I like to think of them dancing
Last Line: Can I forgive them their battle
Subject(s): Cities


LOU'S BARBERSHOP, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Inside the storefront, snake plants thrive
Last Line: I feel as if I'm a prince on a throne
Subject(s): Cities


LOVE AND HATE, by CRISTINA FELIPE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh hate!
Last Line: Oh how I wish it were over
Subject(s): Cities


LUCILE SWINTON, PARENTS' COMMITTEE, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The students from tower will have a good time
Last Line: Too many choices confuse people
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


LUCKY NUMBERS, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Before uncle zeke rises from bed
Last Line: Wonder if that means I'll get 100?
Subject(s): Cities


LUNCH POEMS: 1, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The departed ad exec has left
Last Line: The past retreating %flies %living %dying
Subject(s): Cities


LUNCH POEMS: 2. GRAY DIRECT, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Striated clouds
Last Line: A slow, continous %pace
Subject(s): Cities


MADAME LA GRIPPE, by JAMES RYDER RANDALL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Where the seas meet the land, and the land quits the seas
Last Line: So providence shield us from madame la grippe!
Subject(s): Cities; Sickness; United States; Urban Life; Illness; America


MAKING A LIVING, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man lives in a city addicted to lies,' he said
Last Line: Out of the eternal verities
Subject(s): Cities; Lies; Truth


MAN ON A FIRE ESCAPE, by EDWARD HIRSCH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He couldn't remember what propelled him
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


MAN ON A FIRE ESCAPE, by EDWARD HIRSCH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He couldn't remember what propelled him
Last Line: Like a warning-icy, long-forgotten- %while he turned back to an empty room.
Subject(s): Cities


MAN WITH THE SAXOPHONE, by FLORENCE ANTHONY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: New york. 5 a.M.
Last Line: Each note a black flower, %opening, mercifully opening %into the unforgiving new day
Alternate Author Name(s): Ai
Subject(s): Cities; Jazz; Music And Musicians


MAN'S PLANS, by WALT MASON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He sat beside me by the fire, and chattered
Last Line: "abroad,"" and didn't need to take his wad."
Subject(s): Air Travel; Aviation & Aviators; Cities; Urban Life


MANHATTAN LULLABY, by NORMA FARBER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lulled by rumble, babble, beep
Last Line: Lulled by rumble, babble, beep
Subject(s): Cities


MANHATTAN SPECIAL, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tracking this afternoon's last
Last Line: Windfall %new year %blowing
Subject(s): Cities


MAP OF THE CITY, by THOMSON WILLIAM GUNN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I stand upon a hill and see
Last Line: I would not have the risk diminished
Alternate Author Name(s): Gunn, Thom
Subject(s): Cities


MARGIN, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the city of caricature and mocking distortion
Last Line: Mortal and venial sin
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless; Religion


MATINAL SURVEY OF THE CITY, by PAUL FORT    Poem Text                    
First Line: O justly made divine, unclose thy hands, sweet dawn, those fingers
Last Line: Sweet to me, against white walls the sound of all these shutters blue!
Subject(s): Chimney Sweepers & Chimneys; Cities; Spring; Urban Life


MEADOW, by MARIANNE LARSEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: This evening the meadow seems the essential thing
Last Line: It is a meadow %true, but there's a city on top of it
Subject(s): Cities; Politics


MELINDA KURTZ (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well, well, will you take a look at that?
Last Line: Maybe she's got a secret like mine
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MELINDA KURTZ (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate the cold
Last Line: Maybe my baby will look like kristen
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MELINDA KURTZ (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I meet stella
Last Line: Forever in hudson landing
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MELINDA KURTZ (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Thank you for the chair, miss carter
Last Line: I can't wait to get out on that floor
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MELINDA KURTZ: STELLA CHURCH, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, this is so lovely
Last Line: Hurry, I don't wanna have this kid in the bathroom
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MEMORIES OF EATING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once for lunch %I mauled %a lady's %shoe
Last Line: Leafing through %for wall street journal
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


MESSAGE, by ANNE MILLAY BREMER    Poem Text                    
First Line: City toilers in tumult and noise
Last Line: See, you have missed all the daisies!
Subject(s): Aviation & Aviators; Cities; Travel; Airplanes; Air Pilots; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


METAPHYSICIANS OF SOUTH JERSEY, by STEPHEN ELLIOTT DUNN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Because in large cities the famous truths
Last Line: About this place and what a world it was
Alternate Author Name(s): Dunn, Stephen
Subject(s): Cities; New Jersey; Physicians


MICHAEL PERRIN (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother knocks on my door
Last Line: You will never know where the road will take you.'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MICHAEL PERRIN (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr. Ziegel, I'm having second thoughts about this trip
Last Line: Maybe something interesting will happen
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


MIDDLEBROOK, by EDWARD C. JONES    Poem Text                    
First Line: The lowly huts of middlebrook
Last Line: Nor by their sons be lost.
Subject(s): Cities; New Jersey; Urban Life


MIRAGE, by FRANK ERNEST HILL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a city islanded in light
Last Line: Clear to the eyes, lost to the feet of men.
Subject(s): Cities; Mirages; Urban Life


MISPLACED SYMPATHY, by ZOE H. FELDWISCH    Poem Text                    
First Line: Poor city man! I pity you
Last Line: Your unseeing eyes need my sympathy!
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Sympathy; Urban Life; Empathy


MOMENT OF TRUTH, by DAVID LEHMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The pure poetry of paranoia was his as he emerged
Last Line: Of the cause: the die of a board game lost in a grate
Subject(s): Cities


MONMOUTH, by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ladies, in silks and laces
Last Line: Wander awhile with me.
Subject(s): Cities; New Jersey; Urban Life


MONOTONY OF A HUNGER ARTIST, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Playing my ribcage like a xylophone for quarters
Last Line: I work my way from subway car to subway car
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


MOONRISE ON MANHATTAN; FOR LOUIS H. WETMORE, by THOMAS WALSH    Poem Text                    
First Line: Out in the harbour, silence and the moon
Last Line: In coronation on manhattan's shore.
Alternate Author Name(s): Gill, Roderick; Strange, Garrett
Subject(s): Cities; Moon; New York City; Night; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple; Bedtime


MORE QUESTIONS FOR THE PETTY BOURGEOISIE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever %ride an elevator %with piss %in it
Last Line: Staring outside the window %of your favorite restaurant %at me
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


MOTHER AMERICA (FOR CHUCK WACHTEL), by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If two strong women in lycra tights
Last Line: O mother america, find %the grace %to instruct us
Subject(s): Cities


MOTHER MOON, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mother moon surfs the sky
Last Line: Mother moon rides high %we too %we change
Subject(s): Cities


MOTHER'S DAY POEM TO MYSELF, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your cord took ten days to fall off
Last Line: Finally feel the cut
Subject(s): California; Cities


MOTOR CITY TIRADE, by DAWN MCDUFFIE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Send us your homeless, your crazy
Last Line: When the load just gets too heavy
Subject(s): Cities; Poverty; Streets


MOUTH OF PAVEMENT, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Poetry shouldn't %lobotomize you %like marlpan
Last Line: Something to count on
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


MUCHAS GRACIAS, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just about everyone in california
Last Line: Being in love with the wrong man, %muchas mucha-kucha
Subject(s): California; Cities


MUERTES, by ROBERT MAZZOCCO    Poem Source                    
First Line: The event's already happened
Last Line: Till we touch earth and the soul is set free
Subject(s): Cities


MURIAS, by WILLIAM SHARP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the sunken city of murias
Last Line: In the city of murias.
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Aging; Cities; Love; Sea; Youth; Urban Life; Ocean


MY DIAMOND STUD, by ALICE FULTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He'll be a former cat burglar
Last Line: That wasn’t once alive
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


MY DIAMOND STUD, by ALICE FULTON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He'll be a former cat burglar
Last Line: Let anything touch him %that wasn't once alive
Subject(s): Cities


MY GRANDMOTHER, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My grandmother
Last Line: Is unable to say
Subject(s): Cities


MY LADY, by RAY CLARKE ROSE    Poem Text                    
First Line: My lady has returned to town
Last Line: The love that warms my formal phrases.
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Fashion; Man-woman Relationships; Urban Life; Male-female Relations


MY MOTHER COOKING SQUASH IN THE KITCHEN, by HAYAN CHARARA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bob told me about the restaurants %on atlantic avenue where he
Last Line: My mother weep over a plate of squash
Subject(s): Cities


MY MOTHER'S EYES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother's eyes
Last Line: In the cities of love
Subject(s): Cities


MY MOTHER? I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT MY MOTHER, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: One day %she opened %the freezer
Last Line: She died %of lone %li %ness
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


MY SISTERS, THE OYSTERS, by MARCIA SOUTHWICK    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel like the striped pacific bonito that can't stop swimming
Last Line: Cantilevered into the cliffs of monterey
Subject(s): California; Cities; Oysters; Pacific Ocean; Sea


MY SON'S FACE, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My son's face
Last Line: Become %heroic
Subject(s): Cities


MYTHICAL FOUNDING OF BUENOS AIRES, by JORGE LUIS BORGES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And was it along this torpid muddy river
Last Line: Hard to believe buenos aires had any beginning. %I feel it to be as eternal as air and water
Subject(s): Argentina; Cities; History; South America


NATA NATAL, by JUAN GONZALO ROSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I forgive you, lima, for having bred me
Last Line: That we've never known
Subject(s): Cities; Patriotism; Peru; Travel


NATIONAL ASSESSMENT, by CONNIE DEANOVICH    Poem Source                    
First Line: By the light of a femal impersonator
Last Line: While at the same time to smile and to try and copy the moves
Subject(s): Cities


NATURAL DEATH, by JESSICA TARAHATA HAGEDORN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: La lupe on the click cavett show
Last Line: And the rhythm %of your heartbeat
Alternate Author Name(s): Hagedorn, Jessica
Subject(s): Cities


NATURAL HISTORY, by KARL KIRCHWEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The jewelers' windows have been muted with
Last Line: They are trying to drive their shadows from the wall. %by dawn, with filthy tears, they will succeed
Subject(s): Cities


NECESSARY STORY, by DIONISIO D. MARTINEZ    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Take two people. Any two people
Last Line: Thing, a broken shadow dragging a %man along a street of imaginary sorrow
Subject(s): Cities


NECKLACE OF GESTURES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: They hauled themselves out of
Last Line: A necklace of birds
Subject(s): Cities


NED M. CLARKE, MANAGER, GRANDE ROYALE SUPERMARKET (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't tell me to calm down
Last Line: And then I'm gonna kill her
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


NED M. CLARKE, MANAGER, GRANDE ROYALE SUPERMARKET (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes, I know one day you'll leave for college
Last Line: Knowing that you are home, sweet home?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


NEW NEIGHBORHOOD, by KAREN SWENSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I sold my brownstone windows full of leaves
Last Line: Their clopping rhythm muffled in fresh snow.
Subject(s): Cities; Moving & Movers; Winter; Urban Life


NEW YORK, by EDWIN DAVIES SCHOONMAKER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Sea - rimmed and teeming with millions poured out on
Last Line: Till the new day quenches the lamps and flares over tyre.
Subject(s): Cities; Immigrants; Labor & Laborers; Mysticism; New York City; Urban Life; Emigrant; Emigration; Immigration; Work; Workers; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


NEW YORK, by ANNEKE VAN ZINDRAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: My city, maligned and found wanting
Last Line: We shall go wandering.
Subject(s): Cities; Wandering & Wanderers; Urban Life


NEW YORK IN SUMMER: INSOMNIA, by JOHN BROOKS WHEELWRIGHT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beneath trees whose leaves
Last Line: I must try to sleep.
Subject(s): Cities; Insomnia; Nicaragua; Travel; Urban Life; Sleeplessness; Journeys; Trips


NEW YORK LOVE SONG (PART 1 - LOWER EAST SIDE), by LYDIA TOMKIW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here I am again, doubled over, I'm here, pretending I know what I'm doing
Last Line: I don't know how to make it stay
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


NEW YORK MAP COMPANY (1), by JOHN YAU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Acton town manufacturing
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


NEW YORK MAP COMPANY (1), by JOHN YAU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Acton town manufacturing
Last Line: Zanzibar courier service
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


NEW YORK NEW YORK, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Snow covered garbage heap belly stuffed in %a black leather jacket
Subject(s): Cities


NEW YORK NOTE, by HARVEY SHAPIRO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Caught on a side street
Last Line: He replied, %I should have been a doctor
Subject(s): Cities


NIGHT SCENE AT THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL, by JANET HAMILTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The toils, the flames, the thunders of the siege
Last Line: A crumbling mass of ruin and decay.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Freedom; Night; War; Urban Life; Dead, The; Liberty; Bedtime


NIGHT SOLITUDE, by LOUISE LOUIS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Far down the dark avenue of trees
Last Line: Toys. . . .
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


NIGHTPIECE, by ELIZABETH ANTALEK    Poem Source                    
First Line: The radiators simmer and night-flags
Last Line: Into your half-open ears
Subject(s): Cities; Night


NIGHTSCAPE, by DONNA MASINI    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's not only my lights that hum in this city
Last Line: As though night itself were a big house
Subject(s): Cities


NOISE METER, by MICHAEL COFFEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: So open out and hear
Last Line: That sound that seems enough then %then is not enough
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Noises; Traffic; Violence


NOISE OF THE CITY, by ANDRE SPIRE    Poem Text                    
Last Line: And the beating of my heart.
Subject(s): Cities; Human Behavior; Laughter; Men; Noises; Urban Life; Conduct Of Life; Human Nature


NOT BRUEGHEL BUT BRUTAL, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Judging from the portraits %they paint
Last Line: I was made %of air
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


NUKE CITY BALLAD, by WILLIAM WITHERUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: My home is rattlesnake mountain
Last Line: I'm a nuke city boy!
Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism; Bars And Bartenders; Cities


OBAN, by WILLIAM MCGONAGALL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh! Beautiful oban with your lovely bay
Last Line: And feast my eyes on your beautiful scenery, enchanting and gay.
Subject(s): Cities; Tourists; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


OCEAN GROVE HYMN, by ELWOOD H. STOKES    Poem Text                    
First Line: God of the grove, where leaves of green
Last Line: And all be pure at ocean grove.
Subject(s): Cities; New Jersey; Urban Life


ODE TO CHICAGO, by ELAINE EQUI    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In my city
Last Line: We remember our origins
Subject(s): Chicago; Cities


ODE TO MASTER ANTHONY STAFFORD [TO HASTEN HIM INTO COUNTRY], by THOMAS RANDOLPH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come, spur away, / I have no patience for a longer stay
Last Line: To civilise with graver notes our wits again.
Variant Title(s): Ode On Leaving The Great Town;an Ode To Mr Anthony Stafford To Hasten Him Into The Country
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Urban Life


ODE TO MY CAR, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's not as if you were the first
Last Line: Because of you we can, and we do
Subject(s): Cities


ODESSA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And when I say your name
Last Line: With war in her eyes of a wise maker
Subject(s): Cities


OF THAT CITY, THE HEART, by CARL PHILLIPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You lived here once. City -- remember? --
Last Line: Noteless now; of tracks whose end is here
Subject(s): Cities


OIL SLICK, by JUDITH THURMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: There, by the curb
Last Line: Its flashy colors %with a stick
Subject(s): Cities


OLD NASSAU, by H. P. PECK    Poem Text                    
First Line: Tune every heart and every voice!
Last Line: Long life to old nassau!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


OLIVER NESBITT, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 1 (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well, I think it's a bad idea
Last Line: It' s a bad idea any way you look at it. %I vote no
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


OLIVER NESBITT, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 1 (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Before we adjourn for the evening
Last Line: He has kept us out of harm's way
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


OLIVER NESBITT, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 1 (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Attention, shoppers: %have your purchases in one hand
Last Line: Or I'm bound to be devoured %wholesale
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


OLIVER NESBITT, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 1 (4), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Heard you got him locked up, john
Last Line: Or transfer him over to saratoga?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


OLIVER NESBITT, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 1 (5), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: John, you want to know why?
Last Line: When everything was white?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


OLIVER NESBITT, TOWN BOARD MEMBER NO. 1 - JOHNNY NESBITT, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: What dance, where?
Last Line: Dad, you're just goin' out to get drunk again
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ON A MANHATTAN ROOF, by ANNETTE WILCOX    Poem Text                    
First Line: I've been on a sea voyage
Last Line: Of car and voice and feet.
Subject(s): Cities; Life; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


ON AN ACURA INTEGRA, by PAUL RANDOLPH VIOLI    Poem Text                 Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Please think of this as not merely a piece
Last Line: From new american writing
Subject(s): Automobile Accidents; Cities; Poetry & Poets; Urban Life


ON BELMONT, by WILLIAM REGINALD GIBBONS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Watch it! Brother, he said, who had come up beside me without my
Last Line: Everybody like me
Subject(s): Cities; Commuters; Danger; Streets


ON CITY STREETS, by MARGARET E. BRUNER    Poem Text                    
First Line: There have been times when on a city street
Last Line: We fear to change the old, established way.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


ON MARRIAGE & LIVING HAPPILY EVER AFTER, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Like you %I too %would like %to get married %and settle down
Last Line: An annulment %from my previous %relationship
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


ON THE CORNER, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: The shoeshine man pops a cloth
Last Line: Be careful crossing the street, honey'
Subject(s): Cities


ON THE FIFTH OF DECEMBER A ROSE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: The bitter cold %wind streaming
Subject(s): Cities


ON THE RISE OF THE POLICE FORCE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They put a uniform %on any old psychopath
Last Line: A couple of bullets %in your mouth
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


ON TO THE EAST, by NAPHTALI HERZ IMBER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Your loins let girt be
Last Line: March to zion! Ye brave!
Alternate Author Name(s): Imber, Naftali Herts
Subject(s): Cities; Jerusalem; Jews; Sea Voyages; Zionism; Urban Life; Judaism


ONCE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The moon and my body
Last Line: Their longing into the bleeding ground
Subject(s): California; Cities


ONE DAY WHEN I AM BOSS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Maybe one day %I will end up
Last Line: Or the model t %or even the capitalist himself!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


ONE HUNDRED LOVE POEMS FOR LISA, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There goes adam purple
Last Line: Fills with its own %mysterious light
Subject(s): Cities


ONE RED CENT, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: On the pavement, there's a penny
Last Line: I'll make that penny mine
Subject(s): Cities


ORAL HISTORY, by GARY LENHART    Poem Source                    
First Line: The old lady grabbed my arm
Last Line: And I'm going to tell you everything'
Subject(s): Cities


ORCHID, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: So stark %in the way it opens itself
Last Line: The place where it bleeds
Subject(s): California; Cities


ORDINARY MORNING, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A man is singing on the bus
Last Line: In detroit, city of dreams, %each on his own black throne
Subject(s): Cities; Detroit, Michigan


ORLANDO FURIOSO: CANTO 34. ASTOLFO VISITS THE MOON, by LUDOVICO (LODOVICO) ARIOSTO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Twere infinit to tell what wondrous things
Last Line: As that one substance all the other past
Subject(s): Cities; Tourists; Travel


OTHER WAY, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Who turns in the street
Last Line: I never lie
Subject(s): Cities; Insanity


OUR CITY, by FLOSSIE FAITH SAWINGS    Poem Text                    
First Line: I looked upon our city and her people
Last Line: Despair grow deeper on our city's face.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


OUR WORLD, by SALVATORE GALIOTO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Inside %hundreds of ghettos
Last Line: Follow the sibyls out into the streets
Subject(s): Inner Cities


OUT OF NECESSITY, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Waking up alone %has become my new year's
Last Line: I've just seen angels
Subject(s): California; Cities


OUTING IRANIANS, by ROGER SEDARAT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Andre agassi. %he likes to stand close
Last Line: He'll just smile and give you a free doogh
Subject(s): Cities


OVER TEA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: How to have a conversation with a torturer
Last Line: On the threshold of his imprisoned soul?
Subject(s): Cities


PALEFACE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am driving down the connecticut turnpike
Last Line: On the connecticut turnpike in the land of the pequot, 1966
Subject(s): Cities


PALM READING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
Last Line: It's empty
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


PANDAVAS' GAMBLE, by REETIKA VAZIRANI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Returning from the capitol
Last Line: To go now meant take nothing
Subject(s): Cities; India; Travel


PARIS SOUS LA PLUIE (AN EARLY BONNARD), by JAMES MONAHAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Each has his france; and mine's three feet by two
Last Line: From their talk, in that café, in its smoke-loud air.
Subject(s): Bonnard, Pierre (1867-1947); Cities; Paris, France; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


PASSING, by JACK ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Passing on the bus
Last Line: Is looking to see %who looks at that bar
Subject(s): Cities


PASSING BY THE JUNKYARD, by CHARLES J. EGITA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Heaps of headlights
Last Line: Car-ride %again
Subject(s): Cities


PAUSE THAT REFRESHES / OR CLIMBING BACK ON THE ROOF, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was forty-five
Last Line: Honey it's never that easy
Subject(s): Cities


PBS, by ROBERT MAZZOCCO    Poem Source                    
First Line: The ferries go out with the bodies from the morgue
Last Line: Whirling about low in the darkening air
Subject(s): Cities; Funerals


PEACE NOT PERMANENT, by ROBERT HERRICK    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Great cities seldome rest; if there be none
Last Line: T'invade from far: they'l finde worse foes at home.
Subject(s): Cities; Peace; Urban Life


PENNY MARSDEN, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kristen clarke does not have to work
Last Line: Or giving it away for free?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


PERMANENT COLLECTION, by WILLIAM STANLEY MERWIN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a rich provincial city there is a museum as imposing and quite as
Last Line: With their faces shining?
Alternate Author Name(s): Merwin, W. S.
Subject(s): Cities; History; Museums; Tourists; Travel


PICKING HIS WAY, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: James joyce walks down a laneway
Last Line: Blind stylish man
Subject(s): Aging; Change; Cities; Ireland; Joyce, James (1882-1941); Walking


PICTURES OF BROKE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: The great poet %william carlos %williams
Last Line: No %place %like %home
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


PIGEONS, by LILIAN MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pigeons are city folk
Last Line: Oh pigeon, what a waste of wings?
Subject(s): Animals; Cities


PIGEONS AT CANNON STREET, by NORMAN ROWLAND GALE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O ye pigeons of the station with your loveliness of hues
Last Line: Lost the verdant county acres and the freedom of the blue!
Subject(s): Cities; London; Pigeons; Urban Life


PINES OF ROME, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you haven't seen the pines of rome
Last Line: Sing them
Subject(s): Cities


PIO BAROJA, by ANTONIO MACHADO RUIZ    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In london or madrid, geneva or rome
Last Line: He's seen the last petal linger and crash
Alternate Author Name(s): Machado, Antonio; Machado Y Ruiz, Antonio
Subject(s): Cities; Geography; Travel


PIRANESI IN L.A., by DEBORA GREGER    Poem Source                    
First Line: And packing sketches, ink, knife, and quills
Last Line: Reversed, he spoke to the plate %the anthology of decay
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles


PLACE, by SUSAN RICH    Poem Source                    
First Line: How did we get here? My ankle in your hand
Last Line: As in the equation for the rest of our lives
Subject(s): Cities; Driving And Drivers; Streets; Travel; Washington, D.c.


PLAZA AND THE BURNING ORANGE TREES, by ANTONIO MACHADO RUIZ    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: See roaming through these old streets
Alternate Author Name(s): Machado, Antonio; Machado Y Ruiz, Antonio
Subject(s): Cities; Memory; Streets; Travel


POEM FOR RASHID, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is a man's house who is cleaning his drums
Last Line: His drums are in detroit he plays for me
Subject(s): Cities


POEM: 2, by KEITH ALTHAUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Distance dwarfs mementos
Last Line: The sound of typewriter keys %finding their first words
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


POEMA DEL CITY, by RON PADGETT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I live in the city
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


POEMA DEL CITY, by RON PADGETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I live in the city
Last Line: Silent gray wisps rise from the smouldering campfires
Subject(s): Cities


POEMA DEL CITY 2, by RON PADGETT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A light chill on the knees
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


POEMA DEL CITY 2, by RON PADGETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A light chill on the knees
Last Line: This living, to make you cry, or rise %& sneeze, and douse the light
Subject(s): Cities


POEMS (7), by CHARLES REZNIKOFF    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The house-wreckers have left the door and a staircase
Last Line: Now leading to the empty room of night
Variant Title(s): The House-wrecker
Subject(s): Cities


POET FLAYS TEMPTATIONS OF CITY LIFE, by MORRIS GILBERT BISHOP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, abominable city!
Last Line: -- but at times I wonder how they found it.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


POETIC EXCHANGE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Q. You grow dreads?
Last Line: A. The only thing I grow %is hungry
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


POETRY SPEAKS TO ME, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Packed in snow %like fish %in a korean market
Last Line: Walking walking %on you grave %face
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


PORPHYROGNE, by JUDITH JAMES    Poem Text                    
First Line: The moon tonight is like a tarnished crown
Last Line: We can remember, we can build as well!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


POSTCARD FROM TORTOLA, by STEPHEN ELLIOTT DUNN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I've never been to tortola
Last Line: That there's singing in the streets
Alternate Author Name(s): Dunn, Stephen
Subject(s): Absence; Cities; Travel


PRAISE PSALM OF THE CITY-DWELLER, by APRIL BERNARD    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lift your heads, all you peoples, to the wet heat rising
Last Line: In the heat of further days
Subject(s): Cities


PRAISE YOU HARRY GORDON, by DOUGLAS GOETSCH    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Shirt, shoes, trousers, underpants, teeth
Subject(s): Cities; Long Island (n.y.); Mankind; Suburbs


PRAYER, by PATRICIA SPEARS JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: There are words that refuse me
Last Line: Down on my knees or down on my luck. %lord, oh lord, deliver me
Subject(s): Cities


PRAYER, by JASON SHINDER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After jack paces in circles, head down, decides to say
Last Line: After bobbie is drawn so close to murder it holds her before she speaks
Subject(s): Cities


PRAYERS OF STEEL, by CARL SANDBURG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lay me on an anvil, o god
Last Line: White stars.
Subject(s): Cities; Skyscrapers; Steel; Urban Life


PROCESSIONS, by MARIO RAUL DE MORAIS DE ANDRADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Monotonies of my retinas
Last Line: Seem to me just so many monkeys, just so many monkeys
Subject(s): Cities; Sao Paulo, Brazil


PROGRESS ALLEY, by RODNEY JONES    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How did I miss this isthmus of old bricks between the shelter-workshop ...
Last Line: The left-handed spirits. I will dance in this sacred alley of the protestants
Subject(s): Cities


PROMETHEUS AT CONEY ISLAND, by QUENTIN ROWAN                       
First Line: Up over the swell of hot sugar
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Teenagers; Urban Life


PROMETHEUS AT CONEY ISLAND, by QUENTIN ROWAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Up over the swell of hot sugar
Last Line: As was life in the old country
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Teenagers


PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have to %bottle my %burps
Last Line: When I had %food
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


PSALM FOR DISTRIBUTION, by JACK AGUEROS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lord
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


PSALM FOR DISTRIBUTION, by JACK AGUEROS    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lord
Last Line: Lord, %you have to fire the angel %in charge of distribution
Subject(s): Cities


PUBLIC EXECUTIONS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Like jesus %who died %for our sins
Last Line: I am %always persecuted
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


QUARTIER, by MARK HALLIDAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You go straight ahead for about ten blocks
Last Line: Wandering nearly into %the fascinating friendly shops
Subject(s): Cities; Travel


QUESTIONS, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: They asked me
Last Line: In order to bury them
Subject(s): Cities


QUIET HOUSE IN CH'ANG-LO WARD, by PO CHU-YI    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The emperor's city, a place of fame and profit
Last Line: A few stalks in the background, one pot of brew
Alternate Author Name(s): Bai Juyi; Bo Juyi; Po Chu-i; Lo T'ien; Jyu-yi
Subject(s): Cities


RABBITS RABBITS RABBITS 2/1/80, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I leave you this morning
Last Line: Now I'm here
Subject(s): Cities


RACE & CLASS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: There was a time %when I had
Last Line: What they call %progress?
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


RACING WITH THE MOON, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In slow traffic
Last Line: To take one %breath %at %a time
Subject(s): Cities


RAIN IN THE CITY, by ANNETTE TEMIN    Poem Text                    
First Line: There is abroad this night in every place
Last Line: Walk sleepless now and troubled in the rain.
Subject(s): Cities; Rain; Urban Life


REAL NEW YORKERS, by ROBERT MYLES HERSHON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you get vomit on your shoes? No, I think it's pizza. Looks more
Last Line: It was pizza. Yeah, pizza, I don't know, some kind of crap
Subject(s): Cities


REAR-PORCHES OF AN APARTMENT-BUILDING, by MAXWELL BODENHEIM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A sky that has never known sun, moon or stars
Last Line: On brick walls.
Subject(s): Cities; Poverty; Urban Life


REBIRTH OF VENUS, by MARY JO SALTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He's knelt to fish her face up from the sidewalk
Last Line: Envisioning faces where the streets have parted
Subject(s): Cities; Literary Form


RECIPE FOR MURDER, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In this racket %you can't lose
Last Line: Like your %life %depends %on it
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


RED CLIFF, by TOMAZ SALAMUN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gently, gently as you can
Last Line: You'll be a church. You'll be cloth. It's how you are
Subject(s): Cities


RED FLOWER, by ANN TURNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went by this building
Last Line: And a red flower blooming
Subject(s): Cities


RED PENS, by TONY TOWLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The little hispanic girl at the stationer's %on park avenue south just now
Last Line: I had been about to say, %to show that I too was a native
Subject(s): Cities


RED-DRESS GIRL, by ANN TURNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: The rope swings in %and out, sister dances
Last Line: That red dress %flying
Subject(s): Cities


REMOVAL FROM TERRY STREET, by DOUGLAS DUNN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On a squeaking cart, they push the usual stuff
Last Line: Come up cracks in concrete yards in moonlight. %that man, I wish him well. I wish him grass
Subject(s): Cities


RESURRECTION, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was evicted %from my grave
Last Line: Upon my name %&lifelong %ending day
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


RETURN, by LAURIE SHECK    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And then he entered the city: in the old stories
Last Line: I touch each faceless face, like frost
Subject(s): Cities


RETURN TO SEATTLE: BASTILLE DAY, by CAROLYNE WRIGHT    Poem Source                    
First Line: No difference in the gray gulls, sobbing
Last Line: Years before she could blame %herself for everything
Subject(s): Cities; Seattle, Washington


RETURNS, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did I close the windows?
Last Line: And will the door still be open for my return?
Subject(s): Cities


REVIVAL COMES TO KNOXVILLE, 1970, by PARKS LANIER    Poem Source                    
First Line: On a warm evening, the city is the new jerusalem
Last Line: Unto caesar what is caesar's, and unto god very little at all
Subject(s): Cities; Knoxville, Tennessee; Life; Travel


RHYTHM CITY, by MICHAEL COFFEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Winter salt stains white on the sidewalk
Last Line: It is this, he admits, looking down %can't dance
Subject(s): Abandonment; Absence; Cities; New York City; Orphans; Poetry And Poets; Winter


RISK MANAGEMENT, by ALICE FULTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Relentless escalators bore us
Last Line: Before they're caught
Subject(s): Cities; Conventions; Urban Life


RISK MANAGEMENT, by ALICE FULTON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Relentless escalators bore us
Last Line: That soar, catch the light and twirl %before they're caught
Subject(s): Cities


RISTORANTE SAN MARCO, by MARY FERRARI    Poem Source                    
First Line: We are sitting here at a corner table at the
Last Line: It looks like the piazza di spagna
Subject(s): Cities


RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS, by JOHN ASHBERY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: On the secret map the assassins
Subject(s): Separation; War; Cities; Urban Life


ROAD BLOCK: SANTE FE, NEW MEXICO, by CONNIE DEANOVICH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had good manners
Last Line: A pushed-back policeman's hat radioing in, %the red flashlight waving us on
Subject(s): Cities; Police; Sante Fe, New Mexico


ROAD LAW, by BERTON BRALEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Drive a ford or a packard six
Last Line: "a load of stone has the right of way."
Subject(s): Automobiles; Cities; Driving & Drivers; Roads; Traffic; Cars; Urban Life; Paths; Trails


ROADS, by ANTONIO MACHADO RUIZ    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: From this moorish city %behind the old walls
Last Line: Oh, I can no longer walk with her!
Alternate Author Name(s): Machado, Antonio; Machado Y Ruiz, Antonio
Subject(s): Cities; Roads; Travel


ROADSIDE POEMS: A MANCHESTER POEM, by GEORGE MACDONALD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis a poor drizzly morning, dark and sad
Last Line: Dearer than eden-groves with rivers four.
Subject(s): Christianity; Cities; Decay; Flowers; God; Home; Labor & Laborers; Manchester, England; Nature; Poetry & Poets; Urban Life; Rot; Decadence; Work; Workers


ROBBEN ISLAND, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: On robben island
Last Line: Is a beautiful love poem
Subject(s): Cities


ROGUE HYDRANT, AUGUST, by KARL KIRCHWEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Morning. The sun gleams wickedly on chrome
Last Line: He wakes, stands, and vaguely wanders away %just as the water-blue squad car arrives
Subject(s): Cities


ROMANCE OF THE POOR, by RODNEY JONES    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The poor people in springfield go to dayton to be miserable in style
Last Line: Next to his own, give him that much. Leave him to his joy
Subject(s): Cities; Poverty


ROMARE BEARDEN RETROSPECTIVE AT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM, by CORNELIUS ROBERT EADY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Opera! All that cardboard
Last Line: The headlines of a world %that threatens to rip open
Subject(s): Brooklyn, New York; Cities; Museums


ROOM TEMPERATURE, A MORE PERSONAL MORAINE, by JOANNA FUHRMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sitting on the promenade not eating
Last Line: An empty stroller over wet leaves
Subject(s): Cities


RUBBER-TIRE GARDEN, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: A rubber tire yields surprise
Last Line: Such sweet perfume
Subject(s): Cities


RUBY MY DEAR, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The woman in the red car has a hand
Last Line: Her hand's on the wheel, her hand's %in the air
Subject(s): Cities


RULE NO. 1 ON WHAT NOT TO SAY WHEN PANHANDLING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I just need %some money
Last Line: Sticking out %of my forehead
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


RUMBLE, by VIRGINIA SCHONBORG    Poem Source                    
First Line: They roar %out of the river tunnels
Last Line: Part of %a rumble of trucks
Subject(s): Cities


RUMORED CONVERSATION WITH ONESELF CONTINUES IN PITTSBURGH, by DIANE ACKERMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: And also a city with quiet pockets
Last Line: Across from a city whose incandescence %obscures even the most frantic stars
Subject(s): Cities; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


RUN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I enter again %through this sleeve
Last Line: Here, close to the water's edge
Subject(s): California; Cities


SALADIN CROSSING THE DESERT, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You go, like in the movies one arm
Last Line: Everyone out %on avenue b is amazed
Subject(s): Cities


SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK, by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A red band of light stretches across the west
Subject(s): Air Travel; Cities; Urban Life


SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK, by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A red band of light stretches across the west
Last Line: As if these were ruins, as if we were ghosts
Subject(s): Air Travel; Cities


SANCTUM, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: On top of a hill near the lebanese border
Last Line: And trust it to bear our weight %a little longer
Subject(s): Arabs; Cemeteries; Cities; Death; Graves; Jerusalem; Jews; Memory; Middle East - Conflicts; Palestine; Ruins; Sculpture And Sculptors


SAND NIGGER, by LAWRENCE JOSEPH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the house in detroit
Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Cities; Detroit, Michigan; Dissenters; Exiles; Lebanon; Marginality, Social; Estrangement; Outcasts; Urban Life


SAND NIGGER, by LAWRENCE JOSEPH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the house in detroit
Last Line: With cousin and brother %against the stranger
Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Cities; Detroit, Michigan; Dissenters; Exiles; Lebanon; Marginality, Social


SANTIAGO I, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: To encounter
Last Line: Of the wind
Subject(s): Cities


SANTIAGO II, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In this city that can't find itself
Last Line: The splendid city
Subject(s): Cities


SATISFACTION COAL COMPANY, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What to do with a day
Last Line: To stand for a while, and get warm
Subject(s): Cities


SAY GOODBYE TO THE LITTLE YELLOW BUILDING, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Say goodbye to the little yellow building
Subject(s): Cities


SCENES FROM THE PEOPLE'S COURT, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: What a homeless woman %told the judge at her hearing
Last Line: Call your %next witness!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SCRAPS, by MICHAEL BOWDEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: On a morning like any other the apple tree appears unbalanced now
Last Line: Sharpened!
Subject(s): Cities; Morning


SECOND THOUGHTS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Maybe I %would've been %better off
Last Line: A simple scratch %in the memory %of her uterus
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SELF-PORTRAIT, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There it is
Last Line: In various mirrors
Subject(s): Cities


SEMIPERMANENT GATE LIST, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Blowing up a long empty hill
Subject(s): Cities


SEPARATION, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tonight I didn't expect that familiar pain
Last Line: And I know I am part of the betrayal
Subject(s): California; Cities


SERMON ON THE MOUNT, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: One day %the rich were bored
Last Line: With a year's supply of toilet paper
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SET OF MOON, by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The archeress had gone
Last Line: The city of the gods that never sleep.
Subject(s): Archers And Archery; Cities; Moon; Urban Life


SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: On monday he died %on tuesday they folded up his bones
Last Line: He went back to work again
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SEVEN SONGS AT SIXTY, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Begin %where the end begins
Last Line: If you want to know me %you better hurry
Subject(s): Cities


SEVERAL SKYLINES, by GILLIAN CONOLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city adored the radmap
Last Line: Where a sister dies her hair, and dies her hair, to wear whatever crown %there is
Subject(s): Cities


SHAPE OF ONE MAN'S BREATHING: SAXOPHONE MAN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: A woman who can't stop
Last Line: As we improvise together -- %stretching the riff
Subject(s): California; Cities


SHE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Is getting over divorce
Last Line: Wet with rank summer. Sweet jesus, she %pulls him down
Subject(s): Cities


SHOPPING BAG LADY, by LINDA GREGG    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You told people I would know easily what the murdered
Last Line: And fading in the most important place we have yet devised
Variant Title(s): The Shopping-bag Lad
Subject(s): Cities; Greece


SHUTTLE, by ARTHUR SZE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She is making stuffing for the turkey
Last Line: As he watches the snow fall and fall.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


SIDEWALK CHALK, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Big and bold now, write your name
Last Line: Keep the score for sidewalk games
Subject(s): Cities


SIDEWALK MEASLES, by BARBARA M. HALES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw the sidewalk catch the measles
Last Line: The rain-rash slowly dried away
Subject(s): Cities


SILENCE, by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Along the city streets
Last Line: There is nothing else beside
Alternate Author Name(s): Eliot, T. S.
Subject(s): Cities; Silence; Streets


SILENCE, by ? LYNCH    Poem Text                    
First Line: In silence mighty things are wrought
Last Line: Is strengthened silently.
Subject(s): Cities; Silence; Urban Life


SILENCE, by SYDNEY KING RUSSELL    Poem Text                    
First Line: Silence walks through the city
Last Line: How beautiful she was.
Subject(s): Beauty; Cities; Silence; Urban Life


SIN SONGS: 1. COMPLACENCY, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sun slanting
Last Line: Cups like suddenly burning planets
Subject(s): Cities


SIN SONGS: 2. ENVY, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Easy to say you'd never
Last Line: Harder still to calm the wicked rise
Subject(s): Cities


SIN SONGS: 3. AVARICE, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cunning mother money
Last Line: Humps her money cunnie
Subject(s): Cities


SIN SONGS: 4. MENDACITY, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To find in the mirror
Last Line: Tell me a lie of your own and see if I'll bite
Subject(s): Cities


SKETCH: EPISODE B AT GOLD CITY, by ELENI SIKELIANOS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As an aid / for apprehending the vanishing point
Last Line: You
Subject(s): Cities; Maps; Paintings And Painters; Urban Life


SKY SCRAPE/ CITY SCAPE, by JANE YOLEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sky scrape, %city scape
Last Line: Hurry up, %hurry down
Subject(s): Cities


SKYSCRAPER, by DENNIS LEE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Skyscraper, skyscraper
Last Line: Scrape me some sky
Subject(s): Cities


SKYSCRAPERS, by RACHEL (LYMAN) FIELD    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Do skyscrapers ever grow tired
Subject(s): Cities; Imagination; Skyscrapers; Urban Life; Fancy


SKYSCRAPERS, by RACHEL (LYMAN) FIELD    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Do skyscrapers ever grow tired
Last Line: And never get up at all?
Subject(s): Cities; Imagination; Skyscrapers


SLEEP, by JOHN COWPER POWYS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The city sleeps; the fierce metallic roar
Last Line: They sleep.
Subject(s): Cities; Corpses; Dreams; Moon; Sleep; Urban Life; Cadavers; Nightmares


SLEEPING, by LYNN EMANUEL    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have imagined all this
Last Line: When my father and mother made love above rothko %who lay in the day thinking roses, roses, roses
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Rothko, Mark (1903-1970)


SMALL-CITY PEOPLE, by JOHN UPDIKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They look shabby and crazy but not
Last Line: No one would choose that chose you, %flatteringly
Subject(s): Cities


SMOKING IN AN OPEN GRAVE, by DAVID BOTTOMS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We bury ourselves to get high
Last Line: So much of us already geared for the journey.
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Labor & Laborers; Poverty; Urban Life; Dead, The; Work; Workers


SNAPSHOTS OF A BEGGAR'S DIFFICULT LIFE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: A blind man %was leading %a blind dog %by the nose %bleeding
Last Line: On a bed %of nails %dreaming of food
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SO MANY FAITHFUL, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: So many churches- %storefronts, stone
Last Line: On bended knee %so deep in prayer
Subject(s): Cities


SOLEA, by JESSICA TARAHATA HAGEDORN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There are rapists / out there
Last Line: Anymore
Alternate Author Name(s): Hagedorn, Jessica
Subject(s): Cities; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Rape; Urban Life


SOMEONE IS TRYING TO WARN YOU, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: And the whole world is talking about the japanese
Last Line: You still haven't won the war
Subject(s): California; Cities


SON WITH BLUE SHAVEN HEAD, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The woman who stands
Last Line: Never too far from the river
Subject(s): California; Cities


SONG, by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: While a thousand fine projects are planned every day
Last Line: Contrive that the poor may have something to eat
Subject(s): Cities;england;free Trade;markets;poverty; Urban Life;english;supermarkets


SONG OF THE SAD GUITAR, by MARILYN MEI LING CHIN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the bitter year of 1988 I was banished to san diego, california
Last Line: May truly be dead and waiting to be summoned by the sound of the sad guitar
Alternate Author Name(s): Chin, Marilyn
Subject(s): Asian Americans; Cities


SONNET, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Love never held my hand
Last Line: But I've always wondered
Subject(s): Cities


SONNET FOR THE #6, by JACK AGUEROS    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The subways are full of smoke and acrid mists today. In this
Last Line: Like a magic carpet over the bronx to pelham or parnassus
Subject(s): Cities


SONNETS: CITY CHILDREN, by CHARLES HANSON TOWNE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Pale flowers are you, that scarce have known
Last Line: O little flowers that blossom but to fade!
Subject(s): Children; Cities; Childhood; Urban Life


SOUNDS OF THE CITY, by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE    Poem Text                    
First Line: From where I sit the city's ceaseless roar
Last Line: Whose every hour a tragedy reveals.
Subject(s): Cities; Fights; Labor & Laborers; Urban Life; Work; Workers


SPARROW, by KATHARINE TYNAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When august hangs the bough with plums
Last Line: For men and birds of wit and taste.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): August; Cities; Country Life; Sparrows; Urban Life


SPARTA, by JAMES MONAHAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I dreamed of sparta...Of the withered hill
Last Line: On athens of the everlasting light.
Subject(s): Cities; Sailing & Sailors; Sparta, Greece; Towns; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


SPOON RIVER GARLAND: 12. DRIVE-BY, by MICHAEL JOSEPH BUGEJA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In this city everyone wants a pice
Last Line: Making or settling a score. You forget
Subject(s): Cities; Crime And Criminals


SPRING DAY: NIGHT AND SLEEP, by AMY LOWELL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The day takes her ease in slippered yellow. Electric signs gleam out
Last Line: . . . I smell them in the air.
Subject(s): Cities; Night; Sleep; Spring; Urban Life; Bedtime


SPRING MEAL, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I sit at the table
Last Line: To see what the heart remembers
Subject(s): California; Cities


SPRING STREET GIRL FRIEND POEM: 8, by CAROLYN D. WRIGHT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the snug harbors, helicopter and electric eel
Last Line: Where the fish smell like fish and the cheese like cheese
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, C. D.
Subject(s): Cities; Friendship


STAG AT BAY, by BIMSLEY PEABODY    Poem Text                    
First Line: Oh, how I long for the things
Last Line: A drab world at bay.
Subject(s): Cities; Imagination; Urban Life; Fancy


STATE CERTIFICATION, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They stalk you %with pencils %and ball-point pens
Last Line: And every day %is a drag
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


STELLA CHURCH (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm glad I'm away on this trip
Last Line: For the next few days
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


STELLA CHURCH (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I meet mel
Last Line: My new home on the range
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


STELLA CHURCH (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Before the dance melinda took me to her favorite store
Last Line: Isn't that store simply beautiful?'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


STEREOTYPES 1, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Country kids? They milk cows
Last Line: And tell them hicks how city kids live
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


STEREOTYPES 2, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: City kids? %they rob people
Last Line: And tell those burn't-out losers how real kids live
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


STEREOTYPES 3, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The city the country
Last Line: Copper white
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


STILL LIFE WITH WHITE TABLECLOTH, by MARY FERRARI    Poem Source                    
First Line: The tablecloth has a life of its own
Last Line: Table. Sun light. No shadows. %no tablecloth
Subject(s): Cities


STILL-LIFE IN THE COAT FACTORY OFFICE, by VICKIE KARP    Poem Source                    
First Line: What did you think would happen
Last Line: He's been looking straight at you for years, %waiting to take your order
Subject(s): Cities


STORM, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's been raining for hours
Last Line: Growing in the dark
Subject(s): California; Cities


STORY, by SUSAN MITCHELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: There is a bar I go to when I'm in chicago
Last Line: Whoever you are, this poem is for you
Subject(s): Bars And Bartenders; Chicago; Cities; New York City


STRAY CAT, by EVE MERRIAM    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's just an old alley cat
Last Line: Beauty, come in
Alternate Author Name(s): Moskovitz, Eva
Subject(s): Animals; Cities


STRAYS, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hazel harris lives alone
Last Line: Her backyard gate's a welcome mat
Subject(s): Cities


STREAM STRUCTURE, by NATHAN WHITING    Poem Source                    
First Line: Where saddle river reaches lodi
Last Line: Ocean will run away from
Subject(s): Cities


STREET, by ROBERT PINSKY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Streaked and fretted with effort, the thick
Last Line: Dangerous %gray bark of the street
Subject(s): Cities; Streets


STREET SONGS: 1. THE PIGEONS, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Over the houses and into the sky
Subject(s): Cities; Pigeons; Urban Life


STREET SONGS: 1. THE PIGEONS, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Over the houses and into the sky
Last Line: And into their airy home
Subject(s): Cities; Pigeons


STREET SONGS: 2. THE BEGGAR, by WALLACE STEVENS            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Yet in this morn there is a darkest night
Subject(s): Begging & Beggars; Cities; Urban Life


STREET SONGS: 2. THE BEGGAR, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Yet in this morn there is a darkest night
Last Line: The place, pass on. It is a place to beg
Subject(s): Begging And Beggars; Cities


STREET SONGS: 3. STATUARY, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The windy morn has set their feet to dancing
Subject(s): Cities; Statues; Urban Life


STREET SONGS: 3. STATUARY, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The windy morn has set their feet to dancing
Last Line: Then goes his way with all his fancy free
Subject(s): Cities; Statues


STREET SONGS: 3. THE MINSTREL, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The streets lead out into a mist
Last Line: From out among the heather bells
Subject(s): Cities; Minstrels


STREETCLEANER'S LAMENT, by PATRICIA HUBBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dirt and %clean them clean them clean them
Last Line: Remove them %dirt and dirt and dirt forever
Subject(s): Cities


SUBWAY, by GARY STEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When cities swell
Last Line: Of the tunnel %space between darkness
Subject(s): Cities; Subways


SUBWAY CAR SEMINAR, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't take offense %if I don't smile
Last Line: You don't %take me %home
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SUBWAY GRAFFITI: AN ANTHROPOLOGIST'S IMPRESSIONS, by WENDY ROSE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Day-glo signs of survival
Last Line: Parngs of hair, toenail, %spirit and song
Subject(s): Anthropology; Cities; New York City; Subways; Travel


SUBWAY IN MARCH, 5:45 P.M., by MAGGIE NELSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I take the long way home, knowing
Last Line: It's the light of early spring
Subject(s): Cities


SUBWAY POEM, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Yo, spring
Last Line: And your sweet ass
Subject(s): Cities


SUBWAY TRAIN, by LELAND B. JACOBS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The subway train, the subway train
Last Line: Is deep, deep, deep, deep, underground
Subject(s): Cities; Machinery And Machinists


SUICIDE, by KATHLEEN DE AZEVEDO    Poem Source                    
First Line: As his pink feet cling to the granite ledge of the state building
Last Line: He is starting over
Subject(s): Cities; Suicide


SUICIDE IS A LUXURY I COULD DO WITHOUT!, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some people ask me %how I do it
Last Line: Let alone %doing it
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


SUMMER IN THE CITY, by KIM THERESA ADDONIZIO    Poem Source                    
First Line: When he finished with her and the afternoon
Last Line: His hands clean, smelling of soap and cigarettes
Subject(s): Cities; Hopper, Edward (1882-1967); Man-woman Relationships; Sex


SUMMER MORNING, by MICHAEL COFFEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw a person get hit in traffic today
Last Line: Clearing throats, making %any kind of noise
Subject(s): Automobile Accidents; Cities; Death; Noises; Streets; Traffic


SUMMER NIGHT-BROADWAY, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Night is the city's disease
Last Line: Looking for children to sing to.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael
Subject(s): Broadway, New York City; Cities; Injustice; Urban Life


SUMMONS, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: We say we aren't the believers
Last Line: Right out of our dreams
Subject(s): California; Cities


SUNRISE IN THE CITY, by LUCY LARCOM    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The sunrise over the houses!
Last Line: And the christ-light shining in '
Subject(s): Cities; Dawn; Religion; Urban Life; Sunrise; Theology


SWEET DISTURBANCE OF THE PEACE, by STACEY FRUITS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I like it best when love forgets itself, when love is loud
Last Line: Window box and watch me bloom inside the dead of winter
Subject(s): Cities; Harlem (new York City); Noises; Poetry And Poets


SWIFTNESS WITH WHICH THOSE CITIES FELL: 2. A SKIRMISH AT EL-NEJD, by DENNIS NURKSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: War to extinction against a country we've never seen
Last Line: And the dazzling heat of el-nejd?
Subject(s): Cities; War


SYMPATHY FROM THE DIARY OF A HUNGER ARTIST, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I should've left you %to your book
Last Line: I'm not the one %holding your soul %for ransom
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


TALKING ABOUT CITIES, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And when she talked about cities
Last Line: Of those imaginary %faces
Subject(s): Cities


TAXI TO THE FLAME, by VICKIE KARP    Poem Source                    
First Line: Halloween, I ride the subway to an early evening class
Last Line: And where, in tonight's sunset, %is the piece of that flame?
Subject(s): Boston; Cities


TEN COMMANDMENTS OF A STREET POET, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let all books be remaindered for a dollar
Last Line: Don't let the 20th century end with a panel discussion
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


TEN MILLION FLAMES OF LOS ANGELES, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've always been afraid of death by fire
Last Line: Angelita, do not run from the flame.'
Subject(s): California; Cities


TEN OXHERDING PICTURES: ENTERING THE CITY WITH BLISS-BESTOWING HANDS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have come to the gates
Last Line: They tremble as they rise
Subject(s): Animals; Cities; Oxen; Urban Life


TEN OXHERDING PICTURES: ENTERING THE CITY WITH BLISS-BESTOWING HANDS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have come to the gates
Last Line: They tremble as they rise
Subject(s): Animals; Cities; Oxen


TEN YEARS OLD, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A city child, rooms are to him no mere
Last Line: "richard! Get through! And put your stockings on."
Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael
Subject(s): Children; Cities; Childhood; Urban Life


TENOCHTITLAN, by CARLOS CORTEZ KOYOKUIKATL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tenochtitlan, %it has been so long that I have not seen you
Last Line: I want to see the mountains!
Subject(s): Cities; Mexico


TEOTIHUACAN, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In teotihuacan
Last Line: Play at love's intrigues
Subject(s): Cities


THE 'FRISCO EARTHQUAKE, by EFFIE WALLER SMITH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: While the earth shook and trembled and hungry
Last Line: Sad, ah, sad was their fate!
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Disasters; Earthquakes; Urban Life; Dead, The


THE AERIAL CITY, by AFANASY FET SHENSHIN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: But proffers no pinions to fly.
Subject(s): Cities; Sailing & Sailors; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


THE AVENGER, by BERTON BRALEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: With a smile that was ecstatic billings
Last Line: And the people made him mayor of the town!
Subject(s): Cities; Mayors; Urban Life


THE BALLADE OF DEAD CITIES; TO ANDREW LANG, by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Where are the cities of the plain?
Last Line: Where are the cities of old time?
Subject(s): Cities; Jews; Urban Life; Judaism


THE BEAUTIFUL CITY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The beautiful city! Forever
Last Line: And loosen the trump at the gates.
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Beauty; Cities; Fantasy; Sea; Urban Life; Ocean


THE BEAUTY OF A CITY, by ELIZABETH DAWSON    Poem Text                    
First Line: The beauty of a city seems to be
Last Line: In the rain; and smiles on passing faces.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE BIRD BATH, by EDITH HARRIET JONES    Poem Text                    
First Line: He paused without surprise / upon the verge
Last Line: Sophisticated city ways.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE BIRTHDAY, by RHYS CARPENTER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The trees were dripping, dank and still
Last Line: And thoughts to linger in.
Subject(s): Birthdays; Children; Cities; Fire; Rites & Ceremonies; Childhood; Urban Life


THE CALL OF THE COAST, by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON    Poem Text                    
First Line: Let the roar go up from the city!
Last Line: Shall strew the earth with flowers.
Subject(s): Cities; Freedom; Urban Life; Liberty


THE CHICAGO POEM; FOR TED BERRIGAN AND ALICE NOTLEY, by JEROME ROTHENBERG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The bridges of chicago / are not the bridges of paris
Last Line: Modern times
Subject(s): Architecture & Architects; Berrigan, Ted (1934-1983); Chicago; Cities; Berrigan, Edmund Joseph; Urban Life


THE CITY, by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Much have we cursed the city. It has been
Last Line: By secret acts of broad humanity.
Subject(s): Cities; Humanity; Urban Life


THE CITY, by JOHN DRINKWATER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A shining city, one
Last Line: With happy wayfaring.
Subject(s): Cities; Science; Urban Life; Scientists


THE CITY, by WILLIAM BRIAN HOOKER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a crown upon her brow that seems
Last Line: Dancing in all her jewels before the king.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hooker, Brian
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE CITY, by GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: What domination of what darkness dies this
Last Line: By the thronged gods, tall, golden-coloured, joyful, young.
Alternate Author Name(s): A. E.
Subject(s): Cities; God; Science; Urban Life; Scientists


THE CITY, by THOMAS TRAHERNE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What structures here among god's works appear
Last Line: More wealth provided, and more high.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE CITY, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I watched the country harden to a town
Last Line: Far in the golden city of the skies.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE CITY AND THE SEA, by EMILY PAULINE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: To none the city bends a servile knee
Last Line: But her sweet soul is god's.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tekahionwake
Subject(s): Cities; God; Mankind; Sea; Urban Life; Human Race; Ocean


THE CITY AND THE SEA, by MARION COUTHOUY SMITH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Struck like a blur of gold across the night
Last Line: The thunders of his old unconquered might.
Subject(s): Cities; Sea; Urban Life; Ocean


THE CITY AT NIGHT, by MARGUERITE AVIS WHITCOMB    Poem Text                    
First Line: With light on light the city streets now blaze
Last Line: We babel view, and feel our earthborn might.
Subject(s): Cities; Pride; Urban Life; Self-esteem; Self-respect


THE CITY AT THE END OF THINGS, by ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beside the pounding cataracts
Last Line: Is deathless and eternal there.
Subject(s): Cities; Night; Soul; Time; Urban Life; Bedtime


THE CITY CALLS, by LEXIE DEAN ROBERTSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My little garden wall is gray
Last Line: With watching the wild birds fly.
Subject(s): Cities; Traffic; Urban Life


THE CITY DWELLER, by BERNICE LESBIA KENYON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: These things I cannot forget: far snow in the night
Last Line: The motion of men resounds like the thundering sea!
Alternate Author Name(s): Gilkyson, Walter, Mrs.
Subject(s): Cities; Thunder; Wind; Urban Life


THE CITY IN THE SEA, by EDGAR ALLAN POE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
Last Line: Shall do it reverence.
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Sea; Urban Life; Dead, The; Ocean


THE CITY OF DESPAIR, by MAXWELL STRUTHERS BURT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dawn comes not: / and I have waited
Last Line: Above the sodden citadel of tears.
Alternate Author Name(s): Burt, Struthers
Subject(s): Cities; Dawn; Despair; Evil; Urban Life; Sunrise


THE CITY OF LAISH, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Have you read of the orient people of / laish in the olden time
Last Line: Christ came and his presence declared it, so the dream may not utterly die.
Subject(s): Asia; Cities; Death; Dreams; Jesus Christ; War; Far East; East Asia; Orient; Urban Life; Dead, The; Nightmares


THE CITY OF MY YOUTH, by EDWARD NOYES POMEROY    Poem Text                    
First Line: The town I knew is sunk from sight
Last Line: Thy happiness my tears.
Subject(s): Childhood Memories; Cities; Youth; Urban Life


THE CITY OF PERTH, by WILLIAM MCGONAGALL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beautiful ancient city of perth
Last Line: You're one of the fairest cities of the present day.
Subject(s): Cities; Courts & Courtiers; Rivers; Statues; Tourists; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


THE CITY OF SALT, by GREGORY ORR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the sun-drenched
Last Line: And sweet to taste.
Subject(s): Cities; Mothers; Salt; Urban Life


THE CITY OF THE GILDED TEAR, by HERBERT KAUFMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Babylon, o babylon
Last Line: City of the gilded tear?
Subject(s): Babylon; Cities; Judgments; Urban Life


THE CITY OF THE OLESHA FRUIT, by NORMAN DUBIE    Poem Source     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Outside the window past the two hills there is the city
Last Line: Somewhere inside the mind.
Subject(s): Cities; Kisses; Man-woman Relationships; Physical Disabilities; Weather; Writing & Writers; Urban Life; Male-female Relations; Handicapped; Handicaps; Physically Challenged; Cripples


THE CITY REVISITED, by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The grey gulls drift across the bay
Last Line: We have our heaven on earth -- sometimes!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE CITY [OF THE DEAD]., by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: They do neither plight nor wed
Last Line: For the lie at ease and know that life is done.
Subject(s): Autumn; Cities; Death; Life; Seasons; Singing & Singers; Fall; Urban Life; Dead, The; Songs


THE CITY'S CROWN, by WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE    Poem Text                    
First Line: What makes a city great? Huge piles of stone
Last Line: Till every stone shall be articulate.
Subject(s): Cities; Religion; Wealth; Urban Life; Theology; Riches; Fortunes


THE CITY: 1. VILLAGE FANTASY - THE QUEST, by STIRLING BOWEN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Outside we heard the january wind
Last Line: So happy as to wake in tim's back room.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE CITY: 2. THE CITY, by STIRLING BOWEN    Poem Text                    
First Line: And now I roam the wide and thronging square
Last Line: One listening, for what no one can say.
Subject(s): Cities; Solitude; Urban Life; Loneliness


THE CONTRAST, by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: With ripples of blinding fire all broadway / wavered ashine
Last Line: He tossed me a silver coin ... I let it lie in the street ...
Subject(s): Cities; Class Struggle; Taxis; Urban Life


THE COTTAR'S SONG, by CHARLES WHITWORTH WYNNE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Here the birds still chirp and twitter
Last Line: Of a world supine.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cayzer, Charles
Subject(s): Birds; Cities; Nature; Urban Life


THE COUNTRY TOWN IN EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, by WENDELL BERRY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The town has grown here, angular
Subject(s): Cities And Towns


THE DEAD CITY, by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once I rambled in a wood
Last Line: And I straightway knelt and prayed.
Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Fear; Forests; Grief; Urban Life; Dead, The; Woods; Sorrow; Sadness


THE DEMONS OF THE CITIES, by GEORG HEYM    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: They wander through the cities night enshrouds
Last Line: About their hooves, where flint-struck fires rise.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE DESIRE FOR STRANGE CITIES, by DAVID LEHMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Each street means something other than it says
Last Line: Rio, buenos aires, haifa, hong kong, prague.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE DIRGE OF THE FOUR CITIES, by WILLIAM SHARP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Finias and falias, / where are they gone?
Last Line: The city of murias.
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Cities; History; Lament; Nostalgia; Time; Urban Life; Historians


THE DOOMED CITY, by EDGAR ALLAN POE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lo! Death hath rear'd himself a throne
Last Line: Shall give his undivided time.
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Sea; Urban Life; Dead, The; Ocean


THE DRAGON AND THE UNICORN: 5, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: New york a grey haze with flights of
Subject(s): Cities; Dragons; Unicorns; Urban Life


THE ESCAPE, by JOHN COWPER POWYS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the dreadful city's roar
Last Line: Far from these clattering stones.
Subject(s): Bones; Cities; Escapes; Lakes; Trees; Urban Life; Fugitives; Pools; Ponds


THE FOUNDERS, by DAVID MACLURE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Here where a giant city's pulses throb
Last Line: Proud of his home, the city beautiful.
Subject(s): Cities; Pride; Urban Life; Self-esteem; Self-respect


THE GREAT CITIES, by HENRY VAN DYKE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How wonderful are the cities that man hath builded
Last Line: And in the heart of man I have set the city.
Alternate Author Name(s): Civis Americanus
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE GREAT CITY, by FAITH EVELYN PACKARD    Poem Text                    
First Line: The great city / stretches out huge steel claws
Last Line: The souls of the young.
Subject(s): Cities; Hearts; Soul; Youth; Urban Life


THE HERETIC: 3. MOCKERY, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God, I return to you on april days
Last Line: For this, o god, my silence -- and my doubt.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE HOMING INSTINCT, by MARK JARMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There we see him, driving
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE HUDSON, by STARR HOYT NICHOLS    Poem Text                    
First Line: With tranquil majesty our river flows
Last Line: As souls melt theirs in death's infinity.
Subject(s): Cities; Hudson River; Hudson Valley, New York; Urban Life


THE IDEAL CITY, by WASHINGTON GLADDEN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O you whom god hath called and set apart
Last Line: To serve.
Subject(s): Cities; Worship; Urban Life


THE LAST MAN: SUBTERRANEAN CITY, by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Can it then be, that the earth loved some city
Last Line: Yet legible?
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE LITTLE TOWN O' TAILHOLT, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You kin boast about yer cities, and their stiddy growth and size
Last Line: But the little town o' tailholt's good enough fer me!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Cities; Pride; Towns; Urban Life; Self-esteem; Self-respect


THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW; SUNG BY MR. MATTHEWS FOR THE SPRING MEETING, by THOMAS HOOD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How well I remember the ninth of november
Last Line: All, all to see the lord mayor's show.
Subject(s): Cities; Festivals; Mayors; Urban Life; Fairs; Pageants


THE MADONNA OF THE CURB, by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On the curb of a city pavement
Last Line: Madonna of the curb!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hall, Galway
Subject(s): Children; Cities; Poverty; Childhood; Urban Life


THE MAID SUBURBAN, by RAY CLARKE ROSE    Poem Text                    
First Line: I must confess that I'm afraid
Last Line: Give me the sweet suburban!
Subject(s): Cities; Courtship; Man-woman Relationships; Suburbs; Women; Urban Life; Male-female Relations


THE MAN WITH THE SAXOPHONE, by FLORENCE ANTHONY                        Poet's Biography
First Line: New york. 5 a.M.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ai
Subject(s): Cities; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Urban Life


THE MARSHES, by MABEL WARD RUDD    Poem Text                    
First Line: Where, through rank thatch, the grasping sea has put
Last Line: To see the last trace of the marshes pass?
Subject(s): Birds; Cities; Native Americans; Swamps; Urban Life; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America; Bogs; Fens; Marshes


THE MIGRATION OF CITIES, by THOMAS MCGRATH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We love paris
Last Line: Ports where the red flag has secretly flown for years.
Subject(s): Chicago; Cities; Communism; Florence, Italy; Paris, France; Socialism; Urban Life


THE MOMENT OF TRUTH, by DAVID LEHMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The pure poetry of paranoia was his as he emerged
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS, by ANSELM HOLLO    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Turn, tremble at honk
Last Line: To where road starts again
Subject(s): Buildings & Builders; Cities; Future Life; Labor & Laborers; Urban Life; Retribution; Eternity; After Life; Work; Workers


THE PASSING OF SPAIN FROM THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE    Poem Text                    
First Line: The lord communed with his heart in heaven
Last Line: The passing away of spain.
Subject(s): Cities; Messages & Messengers; Spain; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


THE PASSING SHOW, by AMBROSE BIERCE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I know not if it was a dream. I viewed
Last Line: A wolf sat howling on a broken tomb.
Subject(s): Cities; Death; Dreams; Sleep; Soul; Urban Life; Dead, The; Nightmares


THE PEACE OF CITIES, by RICHARD WILBUR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Terrible streets, the manichee hell of twilight
Last Line: An blew the bolt from everybody's door
Subject(s): Cities; Air Raids


THE POEMS OF COLD MOUNTAIN: 220, by HAN SHAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As long as I stay in the village
Last Line: And sparrows will dance like lords
Alternate Author Name(s): Kanzan; Hanshan; Han-shan
Subject(s): Chinese Literature; Cities; Villages; Urban Life


THE POET, by JANE MILLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You would procure the oil of forgiveness from the angel
Last Line: With great humility, bathed in tears and barefoot.
Subject(s): Americanization; Cities; Decay; Modern Man; United States; Urban Life; Rot; Decadence; America


THE POOR MAN'S AUTOMOBILE, by EDWIN L. SABIN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When the day's stint is finished, and master and man
Last Line: But I doubt if a nabob is gayer than we.
Subject(s): Automobiles; Cities; Driving & Drivers; Travel; Wheels; Cars; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


THE RETURN, by LAURIE SHECK    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And then he entered the city: in the old stories
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE RUSH AND WHIRL, by RAY CLARKE ROSE    Poem Text                    
First Line: The rush and whirl of urban ways
Last Line: The rush and whirl!
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE SATISFACTION COAL COMPANY, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What to do with a day
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE SEEKERS, by JOHN MASEFIELD    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Friends and loves we have none, nor wealth, nor blest abode
Last Line: But the hope, the burning hope, and the road, the lonely road.
Alternate Author Name(s): Masefield, John Edward
Subject(s): Cities; Earth; Roads; Solitude; Travel; Urban Life; World; Paths; Trails; Loneliness; Journeys; Trips


THE SHOPPING BAG LADY, by LINDA GREGG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You told people I would know easily what the murdered
Variant Title(s): The Shopping-bag Lady
Subject(s): Cities; Greece; Urban Life; Greeks


THE SHRINE, by MINNIE BRUCE PRATT            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At noon the veiled woman sat and wailed on the curb
Last Line: Intentions and goals
Subject(s): Women; Cities; Grief; Childhood Memories


THE SLEEPING, by LYNN EMANUEL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have imagined all this
Last Line: Who lay in the dark thinking  roses, roses, roses
Subject(s): Cities; New York City; Rothko, Mark (1903-1970); Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


THE SONG OF THE CITIES, by RUDYARD KIPLING    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Royal and dower-royal, I the queen
Last Line: To seek the happy isles!
Subject(s): Auckland, New Zealand; Bombay, India; Brisbane, Australia; Calcutta, India; Cape Town, South Africa; Cities; Halifax, Canada; Hobart, Tasmania; Hong-kong; Madras, India; Melbourne, Australia; Montreal, Canada; Quebec, Canada; Rangoon, Myanmar (burma); Si


THE STRAY CAT, by EVE MERRIAM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's just an old alley cat
Alternate Author Name(s): Moskovitz, Eva
Subject(s): Animals; Cities; Urban Life


THE STREET, by ROBERT PINSKY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Streaked and fretted with effort, the thick
Subject(s): Cities; Streets; Urban Life; Avenues


THE STREET BEHIND YOURS, by JAMES STEPHENS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The night droops down upon the street
Last Line: And the gutter grumbling down!
Subject(s): Cities; Night; Urban Life; Bedtime


THE STREET LAMP, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Homes stand in slumber. Sleep broods shadowingly
Last Line: Sadly you wane. How sad, and oh, how wise!
Subject(s): Abandonment; Cities; Grief; Homeless; Poverty; Desertion; Urban Life; Sorrow; Sadness


THE TEA-TABLE; A TOWN ECLOGUE, by JOHN GAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saint james's noon-day bell for prayers had tolled
Last Line: And all again that night at ombre met.
Subject(s): Cities; Food & Eating; Tea; Urban Life


THE TRAMP, by ROSALIND TRAVERS    Poem Text                    
First Line: I have turned my face away from the city
Last Line: Away from sight and life; o, take me in!
Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Cities; Estrangement; Outcasts; Urban Life


THE TREES OF HADDONFIELD, by THOMAS J. MURRAY    Poem Text                    
First Line: I sing of haddonfield, west jersey's town
Last Line: The starry banner and the union jack.
Subject(s): Cities; New Jersey; Trees; Urban Life


THE TRUTH ABOUT SMALL TOWNS, by DAVID BAKER    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): Cities And Towns


THE UNDERGROUND, by THOMAS MCGRATH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Cities arise
Last Line: The glaciers have set up their tents
Subject(s): Cities; Glaciers; Hallucinations And Illusions; Sex; Violence; Urban Life


THE UNDERWORLD, by GARRETT KAORU HONGO    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Under the cone of flurried light
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THE VOYAGE, by EUGENE JOLAS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I have buried the city
Last Line: The train is thundering toward eternity.
Subject(s): Cities; Earth; Railroads; Travel; Urban Life; World; Railways; Trains; Journeys; Trips


THE WHITE BONE, by GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When first I saw the city lone
Last Line: With the white bone.
Subject(s): Cities; Civilization; Deserts; Food & Eating; Hallucinations And Illusions; Urban Life


THE WIND'S MESSAGE, by ANDREW BARTON PATERSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There came a whisper down the bland between the dawn and dark
Last Line: And strike once more the bridle-track that leads along the bland.
Alternate Author Name(s): Paterson, 'banjo'
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Trees; Voices; Wind; Urban Life


THE WRECKAGE ENTREPRENEUR, by ALICE FULTON                        Poet's Biography
First Line: It takes faith - this tripping through the mixed bessings
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THERE I AM AGAIN, by LAWRENCE JOSEPH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see it again, half darkness in its brown light
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THERE I AM AGAIN, by LAWRENCE JOSEPH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see it again, half darkness in its brown light
Last Line: Angry, ashamed, and proud as the poor with whom he deals
Subject(s): Cities


THERE'S A BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL CITY, by EFFIE WALLER SMITH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There's a bright and beautiful city
Last Line: For they never, never die.
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Urban Life


THESE LACUSTRINE CITIES, by JOHN ASHBERY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: These lacustrine cities grew out of loathing
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


THEY, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: There they are, the indolent ones
Last Line: With their hands hidden
Subject(s): Cities


THEY'RE NOT HEAVY, THEY'RE MY SISTERS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She sits on her porch
Last Line: As I climb the stairs
Subject(s): Cities


THINGS (FOR AN INDIAN) TO DO IN NEW YORK (CITY), by SHERMAN ALEXIE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Walk down the avenue of the americas
Last Line: She loves me, she loves me [or, she loves me, of course, she's my wife]
Subject(s): Cities


THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A SUBWAY, by BOBBI KATZ    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pretend you are a dragon
Last Line: Make as much noise as you please
Subject(s): Cities


THIRD POEM, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Stone words
Last Line: Tomorrow, the dark %music
Subject(s): Cities


THIS IS A WONDROUS CITY, by MORRIS ABEL BEER    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Behold the city street
Subject(s): Cities


THIS JUST IN: THE MAYOR HANDS OUT $100 FINES FOR ANYONE CAUGHT ......, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm always %on the outs %it seems
Last Line: Getting used to %the tar &feathers
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


THIS KIND OF KADDISH, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tonight aunt fan I mended
Last Line: Aunt fannie frankle kaplan %amen
Subject(s): Cities


THIS MAN I MET, HE SAID, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: That are usually warm
Subject(s): Cities


THIS SHAME CALLED JOY, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hand squeezed, %thick with a pulp which clings
Last Line: The tenacity of my desire
Subject(s): California; Cities


THREE AMORETTI: 2. ON CANAL & BROADWAY, by RICK BAROT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Since you came back I've been all rhymes
Last Line: Here,' you say - word enough for me for now
Subject(s): Cities; Friendship; Streets; Walking


THREE CITIES: 2. CITY OF THIEVES, by JOHN VOIKLIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You must unlearn those cities known before
Last Line: They've been forewarned: this city never lies
Subject(s): Cities


THREE CITIES: 2. TURIN, by UMBERTO SABA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'll return to your mountains' sociable circuit
Last Line: I'll seek the garage where he works, growing old
Subject(s): Cities; Travel


THREE CITIES: 3. NEW CITY, by JOHN VOIKLIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've built this town at least one hundred times
Last Line: A city: righteous, shiny, new again
Subject(s): Buildings And Builders; Cities


THREE LITTLE LOVE SONGS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The unexpected's not un
Last Line: Than I ever %would have %expected
Subject(s): Cities


THREE VIEWS OF THE YOKOHAMA LINE, by JOEL FRIEDERICH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dwelling in corners, in the ashes
Last Line: Of the world's unattainable contours
Subject(s): Cities; Commuters; Travel


THROUGH THE CLEAR GLASS, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: The clink of glass %through windowpane
Last Line: &write it off %on your taxes
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


THUMBS UP, by JUDITH BAUMEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: On certain fall mornings it is possible to walk eighteenth
Last Line: Go past, and be finally as brilliant, seen backward, as plato taught
Subject(s): Cities


TIME #2, by ESTHER IVEREM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I do know this
Last Line: Never run %quite like before
Subject(s): Cities; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


TIME FOR BUILDING, by MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: A dozen machines
Last Line: To another place in town
Subject(s): Cities


TIMES SQUARE, by MAGGIE NELSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Joy got lost, so lost %she couldn't find the sky
Last Line: The train doesn't stop here %anymore. Howdy, stranger
Subject(s): Cities


TIMGAD, by ELLEN VINTON    Poem Text                    
First Line: A forest of pillars in a barren plain
Last Line: Reaching so far into this desert land.
Subject(s): Cities; Rome, Italy; Urban Life


TO & FROM SONNET, by CHUCK WACHTEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cab leaving the lower east side stops beside
Last Line: Keep rising, slowly, until they're too high to see
Subject(s): Cities


TO A BIRD IN THE CITY, by MATTHIAS BARR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ah, bird! I bless thee in my heart; god knows I love to see
Last Line: Such things speak plainer far to me than all that man can say.
Subject(s): Birds; Cities; Urban Life


TO A FRIEND SETTLED IN THE COUNTRY, by ROBERT SOUTHEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Richard, the lot which fate to thee has given
Last Line: Sweet solace to the wearied soul can yield.
Subject(s): Cities; Comfort; Country Life; Fate; Soldiers; Urban Life; Destiny


TO CELIA, by HENRY FIELDING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I hate the town and all its ways
Last Line: Since she possesses all I love.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


TO GET TO THE CHILD, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have to set just one free man
Last Line: I inflict now, all by myself
Subject(s): California; Cities


TO TALK ABOUT A RIVER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I remember a time before speaking
Last Line: A river that never knew we left it
Subject(s): California; Cities


TO THE GLORY OF JERUSALEM, by YEHUDA HALEVI    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beautiful height! O joy! The whole world's
Last Line: Than honey—the earth of thee?
Alternate Author Name(s): Halevi, Judah; Judah Ha-levi; Abu Al-hasan
Subject(s): Cities; Jerusalem; Jews; Zionism; Urban Life; Judaism


TO THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD, by ROLFE HUMPHRIES    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: No permanent possession of the sky
Last Line: Your rusting, huddled, fragmentary bones.
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


TO THE METROPOLIS OF GREAT BRITAIN, by JOHN DRYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As perhaps I am the first who ever presented a work of this nature to the
Last Line: Men, so is by none more passionately desired than by %the greatest of your admirers, %and most humbl
Subject(s): Cities; Great Britain; Nations; Praise; War


TO WOMEN WHO SLEEP ALONE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother doesn't understand a world with no man in it
Last Line: A woman opening to the sound of rain
Subject(s): California; Cities


TO WOUNDED FRANCE, by ANDRE GERMAIN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Land of my birth, basket laden with all the fruits of life
Last Line: Fragrance dissolved, your shattered diadem!
Alternate Author Name(s): Cendre, Lois
Subject(s): Cities; France; Travel; Urban Life; Journeys; Trips


TOMMY LA BLANCA (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother put us in the same clothes
Last Line: Without his freakin' shadow behind me
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


TOMMY LA BLANCA (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My brother, anthony, left me holdin' the bag
Last Line: I'll bust your head wide open
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


TONY WENT TO THE BODEGA BUT HE DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING, by MARTIN ESPADA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tony's father left the family
Last Line: Today tony lives on tremont street %above the bodega
Subject(s): Cities; Hispanic Americans


TORY SITTING ON A COUCH IN A COFFEE SHOP ON THE CORNER OF NINTH STREET, by ALEXIS LOVE GOLDBERG    Poem Source                    
First Line: With a coffee that she announces will make her hands shake later
Last Line: And she says %'my hands were shaking'
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Teenagers


TOURING THE SOUTHWEST, by KATHERINE MERCURIO GOTTHARDT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The drive from santa fe
Last Line: Lifting dust from mouth to tongue, sitting as time permits
Subject(s): Cities; Roads; Tourists; Travel; West (u.s.)


TOWN AND COUNTRY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They's a predjudice allus 'twixt country and town
Last Line: Fer theyr gran'pap to waller 'em round!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Forests; Prejudice; Urban Life; Woods; Bias; Intolerance


TOWN AND COUNTRY, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I've thought, my cousin, it's extremely queer
Last Line: And mean to come again another year.
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Urban Life


TRAFFIC REPORT: THIS IS PALE OTIS IN THE CHOPPER, by RONALD ERNEST OVERTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Paul, we're bumper to bumper on the l.I.E.
Last Line: Paul, we're bumper to bumper forever on the l.I.E.
Subject(s): Cities


TRAVEL, by JULIO CORTAZAR    Poem Source                    
First Line: When famas go on a trip, when they pass the night in a
Last Line: Never take the trouble
Subject(s): Cities; Tourists; Travel


TRAVELOGUE, by AMY GERSTLER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sweetheart, I wish you could tour my native land
Last Line: Landscape, forming lakes in almost every %depression
Subject(s): Cities


TREPIDATION, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm afraid %of being %afraid
Last Line: To not be %afraid
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


TRIALS OF A SPRING POET, by JULIAN FRANCIS SMITH    Poem Text                    
First Line: I sat me down beneath a tree
Last Line: In safety in the city.
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Creative Ability; Urban Life; Inspiration; Creativity


TRIBE, by TOMAZ SALAMUN    Poem Source                    
First Line: A tribe, an insufficient velvet, borders
Last Line: The water is a guillotine. I am the food of great masses
Subject(s): Boundaries; Cities; Nations


TRIP TO FOUR OR FIVE TOWNS, by JOHN+(1) LOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The gold-colored skin of my lebanese friends
Last Line: Seemed like the right time %to disappear
Subject(s): Cities; Towns


TWO CITIES, by WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Girt with the river's silver zone
Last Line: Upon the old foundations, build!
Subject(s): Chicago Fire (1871); Cities; Corruption In Politics; New York City; Urban Life; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


TWO MOMENTS IN VENICE: 2. CITY OF EVENINGS, by JAMES WRIGHT            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is still too early for evening, and the smoke of early september is gath
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, James A.
Subject(s): Cities; Venice, Italy; Urban Life


TWO MOMENTS IN VENICE: 2. CITY OF EVENINGS, by JAMES WRIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is still too early for evening, and the smoke of early september is gath
Last Line: Covered the true shape of evening, and now it is almost evening
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, James A.
Subject(s): Cities; Venice, Italy


TWO POEMS ON URBAN BUSES: 1., by ROQUE DALTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The august dame of the middle class
Last Line: Bottle endowed with a rag fuse lit for the occasion
Subject(s): Buses; Cities


TWO POEMS ON URBAN BUSES: 2. ELEMENTAL MARXISM, by ROQUE DALTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He is an idealist who defines a bus as an automotive vehicle
Last Line: Has on things and their human uses
Subject(s): Buses; Cities; Communism


TWO PORTRAITS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The flower felix put in my hair on sunday
Last Line: Isn't she beautiful, the children used to say
Subject(s): Cities


TWO VOICES, by EDITH BLAND NESBIT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sweet are the lanes and the hedges, the fields made red with the clover
Last Line: And the sun of freedom shall shine across our graves to the ages!'
Alternate Author Name(s): Nesbit, E.; Bland, Mrs. Hubert
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Freedom; Socialism; Urban Life; Liberty


TYRONE (1), by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On this day %the buffalo soldiers
Last Line: Will sink the city %seek the city
Subject(s): Cities


UMBRELLAS, by MAXINE W. KUMIN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's raining in the city
Last Line: The flowers have come up
Alternate Author Name(s): Kumin, Maxine
Subject(s): Cities


UNDERGROUND (BLACK CAT), by CONRAD KENT RIVERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Under bright city lights
Last Line: I swing through the city full of blues
Subject(s): Blues (music); Cities; Jazz; Music And Musicians


UNDERWORLD, by GARRETT KAORU HONGO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Under the cone of flurried light
Last Line: On the shimmering, mingled throngs of the poor
Subject(s): Cities


UNTIL THE DAY BREATHES AND THE SHADOWS FLEE, by KATHLEEN HALME    Poem Source                    
First Line: Miniature stone mansions line a sighing town
Last Line: Forgivable half-souls swallowed whole
Subject(s): Cities; Day


UP FROM, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Up from the steets thrills her voice
Last Line: Why won't he open the window?
Subject(s): Cities; Flirtation


UPTOWN LOVE POEM, by DAVID ST. JOHN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't mind it so much any more
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


UPTOWN LOVE POEM, by DAVID ST. JOHN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't mind it so much any more
Last Line: And the open window slides quietly shut in its swollen, sweating frame
Subject(s): Cities


URBAN EXPERIENCE: PART ONE, by LEW BLOCKCOLSKI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bobbing with the crowds
Last Line: Where he could not spread his arms %their full length. He did not try
Subject(s): Cities


URBAN EXPERIENCE: PART TWO, by LEW BLOCKCOLSKI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Flying horse was in jail
Last Line: He dreamed the midnight dancers %buried him head down
Subject(s): Cities


VALERIE VAN GARP (1), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the living room, we will welcome my guest
Last Line: Divorce is not a spectator sport, even for %honored guests
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


VALERIE VAN GARP (2), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I first saw lolita rosenbaum
Last Line: I think we're gonna get along just great
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


VALERIE VAN GARP (3), by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Who the hell does she think she is?
Last Line: Who the hell does she think she is?
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


VALPARAISO, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In valparaiso
Last Line: Loves on a wild spectral wandering night
Subject(s): Cities


VENICE, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In venice
Last Line: Life's thresholds
Subject(s): Cities


VIRGINIA CITY, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The wind like an enraged
Last Line: Like bewitching, seductive bells
Subject(s): Cities


VISION OF A CITY, by PAUL CLAUDEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: At the hour when, urged by an exalted forboding
Last Line: Thus one evening a solitary city appeared for an instant before me
Subject(s): Cities


VISIT, by HOLLY PRADO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Marla gets off the plane and I see her walking fast, toward me, dressed
Last Line: Coffee to lean down and rub my leg until I can stand on it
Subject(s): Cities; Guests; Travel


WALL, EARLY, by BARRY SILESKY    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's just a brick wall lining the alley
Last Line: Another local hero is dead. A plane hums closer
Subject(s): Cities; Life; Walls


WALLINGTON, N. J., by JOEL LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Night factory hearths glow on the passaic's banks
Last Line: And all this at the end of a good day's work
Variant Title(s): Wallington (north Jersey Elegy
Subject(s): Cities


WANDERING, by SAMUEL ROTH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Little man of sorrows, whither would you wander?
Last Line: "I am going to the country where my fathers ruled of old."
Subject(s): Cities; Grief; Homecoming; Jews; Zionism; Urban Life; Sorrow; Sadness; Judaism


WANTED: THE STORY OF MY LIFE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: My face %is on %an id card %in the post office
Last Line: But here %even death %evicts me
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WASH AND WAX, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Saturdays, soap bubbles
Last Line: Ladies take a shine %to a fine ride'
Subject(s): Cities


WASHINGTON, by EVALYN TERRY BROOKS    Poem Text                    
First Line: O washington, the beautiful, our city glorious
Last Line: Salute our washington!
Subject(s): Cities; Love; Pride; Urban Life; Self-esteem; Self-respect


WATCHING BOXES, by MATT GIULIANO    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wish I could %watch this world
Last Line: Trust your mind's camera,' %and he drifts past my ear
Subject(s): Cities; Earth; Eyes


WAYFARERS, by JOHN COWPER POWYS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The wind is very cold!
Last Line: "follow the wind!"
Subject(s): Cities; Dreams; Memory; Sea; Soul; Wind; Urban Life; Nightmares; Ocean


WAYS OF SEEING & SAYING ON WAYS OF BEING, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Uno: my calling card %I subscribe to
Last Line: Until it pushes %something up
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WELCOME TO OUR CROWD, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've slept %in every room except
Last Line: Into all our arms, live again %gone soon
Subject(s): Cities


WELL-TO-DO BARBECUE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes I feel like %my plane crashed
Last Line: Dental insurance %is a bitch %in this motherfucker!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WELL: IMAGINE A MOUNTAIN WHOSE NAME IS HEART, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: At the throat of the mountain
Last Line: Interned at heart mountain, wyoming
Subject(s): California; Cities


WHAT ARE CITIES FOR?, by ROBINSON JEFFERS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The earth has covered sicilian syracuse, there asphodel grows
Subject(s): Cities; Time; Urban Life


WHAT ARE CITIES FOR?, by ROBINSON JEFFERS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The earth has covered sicilian syracuse, there asphodel grows
Last Line: Be the poorer by many beautiful agonies
Subject(s): Cities; Time


WHAT I BURNED, by JACQUELINE LYONS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Girls at the rusted barrel
Last Line: That I ate and did not share
Subject(s): Cities; Lesotho


WHAT MORE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: First we allow %the taking of children
Last Line: What more can be taken
Subject(s): California; Cities


WHAT MY UNCLES TAUGHT ME, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was ten
Last Line: Until then, never again
Subject(s): Cities


WHAT SCHOOL CHILDREN TELL ME AS THEY WATCH PEOPLE STEP OVER ME...., by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They'll acknowledge %the toilet
Last Line: Before they %acknowledge %you'
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WHAT THE CITY WAS LIKE, by JAMES TATE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The city was full of blue devils
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


WHAT THE CITY WAS LIKE, by JAMES TATE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The city was full of blue devils
Last Line: You could set their hair on fire and, sure enough, they'd start screaming
Subject(s): Cities


WHAT WAS YUGOSLAVIA, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Empty, dispossessed
Last Line: Legends carried off on nights of bleeding love
Subject(s): Cities


WHAT WE OWE WE OWE TO SCIENCE, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: In this world %you have %bomb threats
Last Line: What %you %pay for
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE TODAY?, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: If by chance %a fortune 500 corporation
Last Line: Look out down below %or carry a good umbrella!
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE BODIES, by SUSAN RICH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I listen to my radio not for music, but the news
Last Line: Whatever dies returns to be retold
Subject(s): Cities; Travel


WHEN A MAN LEAVES HIS WIFE FOR AN OTTOMAN, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want to talk plainly %about a man
Last Line: And hit his drawers %and be happy
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


WHEN SKYSCRAPERS WERE INVENTED IN CHICAGO, by EDWARD HIRSCH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think of it as a large moment with shadows
Subject(s): Chicago; Cities; Skyscrapers; Urban Life


WHEN SKYSCRAPERS WERE INVENTED IN CHICAGO, by EDWARD HIRSCH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think of it as a large moment with shadows
Last Line: Even as houses, american houses, were growing on the prairie
Subject(s): Chicago; Cities; Skyscrapers


WHEN YOU WALK, by JAMES STEPHENS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When you walk in a field
Last Line: The beautiful clouds go by!
Subject(s): Cities; Country Life; Walking; Urban Life


WHEN YOU WRITE ME, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you write me
Last Line: Coming to light
Subject(s): Cities


WHERE I LIVE, by CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Where I live %there are no trees
Last Line: And my branches %lift the sky
Subject(s): Cities


WHERE THE SKY AND GROUND ARE WHITE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I press my lips together slightly
Last Line: Too furious to ignore
Subject(s): California; Cities


WHERE YOU WANT TO BE, by KEVIN PILKINGTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You wake early again
Last Line: Her hungry and ready %to eat the sky
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


WHITE CENTER, by RICHARD HUGO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Town or poem, I don't care how it looks
Last Line: And why do I feel no shame kicking the loose gravel home
Subject(s): Cities; Washington (state)


WHITE NOISE, by LAURIE SHECK    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The faces are lifted up into the jumpy light
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


WHITE NOISE, by LAURIE SHECK    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The faces are lifted up into the jumpy light
Last Line: When I suffer, I cannot forget that I am, nor fail to know that I am nothing
Subject(s): Cities


WHO HAVE BEEN SAD EVEN BEFORE THEY COULD LEARN, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Where do they come from
Last Line: Can last a girl her entire life
Subject(s): California; Cities


WHY WE GAVE UP ON PUNCH LINE DRAMATICS, by WASHINGTON JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: From there we could hear %the shots
Last Line: Because tombstones are the credits %in gods directorial debut'
Subject(s): Actors And Actresses; Cities; Motion Picture Directors


WIND RIVER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: It is just a matter of relocation
Last Line: Of 1985, near the wind river reservation, wyoming
Subject(s): California; Cities


WINDOWS, by BERTON BRALEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We're livin' out here in the country now
Last Line: Where I watched as the world went by.
Subject(s): Cities; Collective Behavior; Streets; Windows; Urban Life; Mobs; Crowds; Avenues


WISE WOMAN, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fully aware
Last Line: Was ever really %ours
Subject(s): Cities


WITH A CALLIGRAPHER, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: He writes every morning with a fat ink brush. His fingers slicing
Last Line: All the power in his hands, which he holds onto with his life
Subject(s): California; Cities


WITH LEE REMICK AT MIDNIGHT, by RON PADGETT            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The lights shoot off the windows at the plaza
Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life


WITH LEE REMICK AT MIDNIGHT, by RON PADGETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The lights shoot off the windows at the plaza
Last Line: As evening settles down in its glorious space %and I shoot down the slide and up, and out
Subject(s): Cities


WITNESS, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: The first time I looked up
Last Line: Know how much I was loved
Subject(s): California; Cities


WOMAN IN THE GREEN CAR, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The woman in the green car does
Last Line: Leave it %in mamaroneck
Subject(s): Cities


WOMAN NAKED, by MARJORIE AGOSIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And amid the thick
Last Line: Knocks on the doors
Subject(s): Cities


WOMAN NAMED MATSU/PINE, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wait here before our children
Last Line: Fire in the dawn's %stillest hour
Subject(s): California; Cities


WOMAN ON THE DUMP, by ELIZABETH SPIRES    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She sits on a smoldering couch
Last Line: In the background unexhaustedly %burning, burning, burning
Subject(s): Cities


WOMAN WHO FORGOT, by AMY UYEMATSU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes a woman must go
Last Line: She had never left it behind
Subject(s): California; Cities


WORDS, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Are keys
Last Line: Though it dreams of leaving
Subject(s): Cities


WORDS READ BY LIGHTNING, by ELAINE EQUI    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Big silver raucous stem
Last Line: Already full %with what is
Subject(s): Cities; New York City


WRECKAGE ENTREPRENEUR, by ALICE FULTON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It takes faith - this tripping through the mixed bessings
Last Line: Nakedness. How small she looks %beside what she has saved
Subject(s): Cities


WRESTLER, by BRENDAN KENNELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sky, cloud, seagull, sparrow, men in blue
Last Line: Immaculate won, hands down. Bob scaled a rusty gate
Subject(s): Cities; Religion; Spring; Wrestling And Wrestlers


WRITTEN IN MONTAIGNE'S ESSAYS, by MATTHEW PRIOR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dictate, o mighty judge, what thou hast seen
Last Line: While talbot tells the world, where montaigne erred.
Subject(s): Cities; England; France; Judges; Wisdom; Urban Life; English


YELLOW COIN, by KAREN SWENSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Where the only changes are
Last Line: The only wall that holds my history.
Subject(s): Change; Cities; Memory; Urban Life


YELLOW LIGHT, by GARRETT KAORU HONGO    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: One arm hooked around the frayed strap
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles; Urban Life


YELLOW LIGHT, by GARRETT KAORU HONGO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: One arm hooked around the frayed strap
Last Line: Covers everything, everything in sight, %in a heavy light like yellow onions
Subject(s): Cities; Los Angeles


YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, by HETTIE JONES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If a plant could be
Last Line: Manna in my mouth
Subject(s): Cities


YOU COULD BELIEVE, by PHILIP LEVINE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You could believe the city is more than you
Last Line: Everything in this place does what it can
Subject(s): Cities; Imagination


YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT, THEY TELL ME!, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Imagine %being in heaven %with a cup
Last Line: Helps you %costs you %your life
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless


YOUR TURN, by ANSELM HOLLO    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dewdrop ode sweet licks
Last Line: Make neurons dance in world muse impulse book
Subject(s): Cities; Melodies; Music & Musicians; Urban Life


YVETTE RONDEAU, by MEL GLENN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When brian paxell was through with me
Last Line: I can find a job in the next town over
Subject(s): Cities; High School Students; Murder; Racism; Towns


ZEBRA, by JUDITH THURMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: White sun %black %fire escape
Last Line: Outside my window
Subject(s): Cities


ZOO NATION, by TONY MEDINA    Poem Source                    
First Line: They feed me %through these %bars
Last Line: Shoe heels %ignore %my grief
Subject(s): Cities; Homeless