Discover Poetry

Since October 2017 I’ve been leading a monthly poetry reading group at Dove Cottage.

Since October 2018 the reading group is held on the THIRD THURSDAY of the month, not the first as it initially was.

Since April 2020 the sessions have been held online, on zoom.

In 2023 we are taking breaks in March and August, but will meet as usual on zoom in the other 10 months.

The sessions are FREE and open to anyone, whether you gobble up poems on a weekly basis or haven’t touched one in years, if ever.

Every month we read and talk about 4 poems: generally 3 seasonal choices and 1 which reflects current events in some way, though this balance can shift.

Each session starts at 7.30pm GMT/BST and will finish around 9.

May 19th 2022

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Song for the Festival by Gretchen Marquette
Blossom by Kathleen Jamie
From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee
On A Pink Moon by Ada Limón

April 21st 2022

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Daffodils (Speculation on Future Blackness) by Jason Allen-Pasiant
Plastic Binoculars by Hannah Lavery
Assimilation by Warsan Shire
[Somewhere I have never travelled, gladly beyond] by eecummings

March 16th 2022

This month we’re having a bit of a shift around and meeting (on zoom) on a Wednesday evening, not Thursday, just to confuse things, to discuss the following:

Spring by Bohdan-Ihor Antonych
Asylum, a Dance by Lyuba Yakimchuk
Poem (I lived in the first century of world wars) by Muriel Rukeyser
Late March by Edward Hirsch

February 17th 2022

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

The Crocus by Norman Nicholson
I Am Learning to Abandon the World by Linda Pastan
On Winter by Suzanne Buffam
Some Questions about the Storm by Hilda Raz

January 2022

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

New Year’s Day by Kim Addonizio
Loneliness by Kwame Dawes
January by Daniel Simko
The Vanishing World by Sandra Lim

December 16th 2021

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

December by Seán Hewitt
The Shortest Night by Victoria Chang
Letters in Winter by Maya C. Popa
Christmas Flight by Eleanor Hooker

November 18th 2021

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Fall by Didi Jackson
Tomatoes in November by John Morrison
Autumn Leaves by Marilyn Chin
Evening by Dorianne Laux

October 21st 2021

This month we will once again meet via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

After Apple-Picking by Robert Frost
Insomnia and the Seven Steps to Grace by Joy Harjo
Things by Jane Cooper
Seven Protections by Rachael Boast

September 16th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Summer’s Last Tomatoes by Jacquelyn Malone
Porch Swing in September by Ted Kooser
Song for Autumn by Mary Oliver
Decorating a Cake While Listening to Tennis by Peg Duthie

August 19th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

In Late August by Peter Campion
August Evening by Sandor Csoori
Summer Preserves Haibun by Cynthia Miller
I wish by by Nadia Anjuman, trans. by Diana Arterian and Marina Omar

July 15th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Letter in July by Elizabeth Spires
The Woman Who Turned Down a Date with a Cherry Farmer by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Preston North End by George Szirtes
July by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

June 17th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Ablutions for Midsummer by Rachael Boast
Black Marsh Eclogue by Sam Hamill
Lochan by Kathleen Jamie
Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

May 20th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

May by Kirmen Uribe
Swallows by Imogen Cassels
The Trees by Phillip Larkin
There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale

April 15th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

The Late Wisconsin Spring by John Koethe
April Is a Dog’s Dream by Marilyn Singer
Sunlight, Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan
Sometimes by Sheenagh Pugh

March 18th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Wood Not Yet Out by Alice Oswald
At the Equinox by Arthur Sze
Look to the Crocus by Marion McReady
To Mr. William Wordsworth, Distributor of Stamps for Westmoreland by Lorna Goodison

February 18th 2021

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Psalm Eighty-Eight Blues by Diana Hendry
Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Shihab Nye
February & my love is in another state by José Olivarez
Love in the Time of Coronavirus by Nikita Gill

All four poems as a word doc: DiscoverPoetryFeb2021

January 21st 2021

We don’t normally get to meet in January, as Dove Cottage is closed for maintenance, but the virtual calendar doesn’t care for such things! So we are having our first ever January Discover Poetry on the 21st, discussing:

Burning the Old Year by Naomi Shihab Nye
Snow Moon by Don McKay
Like You by Roque Dalton, trans. by Jack Hirschman
Praise Song For The Day by Elizabeth Alexander

All four as a word doc: January 21 DP

December 17th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Sugar Water in Winter by Christie Towers
December began with shopping by L. Kiew
To Know the Dark by Wendell Berry
Christmas at Goosemire Farm by Gary Liggett

November 19th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

This is a letter by Rebecca Dunham
The Birds by Linda Pastan
November Night by Adelaide Crapsey
Being a Human Being by Tom Leonard

All 4 poems as a word doc:DiscoverPoetryNov2020

October 15th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

A Letter in October by Ted Kooser
Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandburg
Quince Jelly by Jan Wagner, trans. by Iain Galbraith
The Naming by Karenne Wood

All four as a word doc: October20DiscoverPoetry

September 17th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Towards Autumn by Marilyn Hacker
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, 2016 by Nina Mingya Powles
September Tomatoes by Karina Borowicz
Time is on Fire by Ada Limón

All Four as a word doc: sept20Discover Poetry

August 20th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard by Charles Wright
August 12 in the Nebraska Sand Hills Watching the Perseids Meteor Shower by Twyla Hansen
Summer Haibun by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
The Minister For Exams by Brian Patten

July 16th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

Summer Was Forever by Chen Chen
Early Cascade by Lucia Perillo
Shaking the Grass by Janice N. Harrington
Vacation by Rita Dove

All four in a word doc: July 20 discovery poetry virtually

June 18th 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

‘Evening Primrose’ by Rita Dove
‘On June Blossoming in June’ by Karen An-Hwei Lee
‘Against Nostalgia’ by Camille Dungy
‘How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This’ by Hanif Abdurraqib

All 4 as a word doc: June 20 discovery poetry

May 21st 2020

This month we will once again meet virtually via Zoom to discuss the following poems:

‘May’ by Seamus Heaney
‘White Hawthorn in the West of Ireland’ by Eavan Boland
‘Yellow Iris’ by Janet Kofi-Tsekpo
‘For the Sake of Strangers’ by Dorianne Laux

All 4 as a word doc: May 20 discovery poetry

April 16th 2020

This month we are going to attempt to discover poetry virtually through the medium of Zoom. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue to meet and talk this way throughout the pandemic. I’ll be sending an email to regular attendees with details, but if you wish to join in, contact The Wordsworth Trust and hopefully we can add you to a list.

‘Iowa City: Early April‘ by Robert Haas
‘April’ by Mary Oliver
‘Warm Compress in April’ by John Angelo Alonzo
Wildcard: ‘Tea’ by Leila Chatti

All four as a word doc: April 20 discovery poetry

February 20th 2020

This month’s session will again be in the new Learning Space at the Wordsworth Trust (in the back of the old tea rooms).

Snowdrop by Alice Oswald
The Dash by Kathleen Jamie
Being in Love by Chungmi Kim
Wind by Ted Hughes

All Four as a word doc: February 20 discovery poetry

December 19th 2019

This month’s session will again be in the new Learning Space at the Wordsworth Trust (in the back of the old tea rooms).

Wintering by Sylvia Plath
Trio by Edwin Morgan
Winter Solstice by Tess Jolly
Wildcard: Dead Stars by Ada Limón

All 4 as a word doc: December Discover Poetry 19

November 21st 2019

This month’s session will be in the new Learning Space at the Wordsworth Trust (in the back of the old tea rooms).

Dream with Horse by Aria Aber (not online)
In November by Lisel Mueller
November, late in the day by John M Ridland
Wildcard: The Nation by Roy Fisher (not online)

All 4 as a word doc: November Discover Poetry 19

October 17th 2019

Plums by Gillian Clarke
Landscape as Werewolf by William Dunlop
Spout by John McCullough (not online)
Wildcard: The Border: A Double Sonnet byAlberto Ríos

All 4 as a word doc: October Discover Poetry 19

September 19th 2019

In which we return to Dove Cottage!

Absolute September by Mary Jo Salter
The Last Days of Summer Before the First Frost by Tim Bowling
To the Light of September by W. S. Merwin
Wildcard: Bad New Government by Emily Berry

All four as a word doc: September Discover Poetry 19

August 15th 2019

Lake District by John Betjeman (not online)
August by Dorothy Parker
Vespers by Louise Glück
Wildcard: “A New Gun Folds Up to Look Just Like a Smartphone” by Brandon Amico

All four poems as a word doc: August Discover Poetry 19

July 18th 2019

NB: This month again we’ll be at RYDAL MOUNT not Dove Cottage.

Although we thought last month would be our last at Rydal Mount, Dove Cottage is not yet ready for visitors again, poetic or otherwise, so we’re staying at Rydal Mount until September. Like a lovely long holiday. Thanks as always to Emily & Matt for accommodating us!

The Valley of the Stour with Dedham in the Distance by Emily Hasler
Three Summers by Amy Key
The Rushbearing at Ambleside by LEL (Letitia Elizabeth Landon)
Wildcard: Moon Landing by Helen Ivory.

All four poems as a word doc: July Discover Poetry 19

June 27th 2019

NB: This month again we’ll be at RYDAL MOUNT not Dove Cottage.

More Than Enough by Marge Piercy
Walking past a Rose this June Morning by Alice Oswald
Summer Solstice by Stacie Cassarino
Wildcard (in a continuation of a Laureate theme!): Speaking Tree by Joy Harjo

All four poems as a word doc: June Discover Poetry 19

May 16th 2019 

NB: This month again we’ll be at RYDAL MOUNT not Dove Cottage.

‘Swallows’ by Kathleen Jamie
XXX (from Thirsty) by Dionne Brand
Grasshopper Warbler by Liz Berry (not online)
Wildcard: ‘The Practical Way to Heaven’ by Simon Armitage

All four poems as a word doc: May 2019 Discover Poetry

April 18th 2019

NB: This month again we’ll be at RYDAL MOUNT not Dove Cottage.

‘April Rain Song’ by Langston Hughes
‘Swifts’ by Anne Stevenson
‘Spring’ by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Wildcard: Physics for the unwary student by Pippa Goldschmidt

All four poems as a word doc: April 2019 Discover Poetry

March 21st 2019

NB: This month we’ll be at RYDAL MOUNT not Dove Cottage, where they have very kindly offered to host us whilst the cottage is being renovated.

Extract from ‘The Book of Praise’ by Lorna Crozier (not online)
‘Daffodils’ by Alice Ostriker
‘Massacre’ by Ghayath Almadhoun translated from the Arabic by Catherine Cobham
‘Last Born’ by Hinemoana Baker

All 4 as a word doc: Discover Poetry March 19

February 21st 2019

February 29 by Jane Hirshfield
Almond Blossom by Fiona Benson
Saints Day Triolet: Saint Valentine by Deborah Paredez
Wildcard: ‘What kind of times are these’ by Adrienne Rich

All 4 as a word doc: February 2019 Discover Poetry

December 18th 2018

NB: This month’s session is on a TUESDAY not Thursday.

The World by Jennifer Chang
Winter Solstice by Hilda Morley
Christmas Tree by James Merrill
Wildcard: Have yourself a Brexit little Christmas by Brian Bilston

All 3 as a word doc: Discover Poetry December

November 15th 2018

‘Portrait of the Quince as an Older Woman’ by Ellen Phethean
‘November: Between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, Today’ by Emily Jungmin Yoon
‘Falling Leaves and Early Snow’ by Kenneth Rexroth
‘I Woke Up’ by Jameson Fitzpatrick

All four as a word doc: Discover Poetry November

October 18th 2018

‘Quickthorn’ by Siobhán Campbell
‘Overheard on a Salt Marsh’ by Harold Monro
‘Indian Summer‘ by Diane Glancy
Wildcard: ‘‘What’s Mine’ by Samantha Walton

All four as a word doc: Discover Poetry October

September 6th 2018

‘September’ by Dorothy Lawrenson
‘Hedgehog Hiding at Harvest in Hills Above Monmouth’ by Helen Dunmore
‘Last August Hours Before the Year 2000’ by Naomi Shihab Nye

Word Doc: Discover Poetry September

August 2nd 2018

‘A Parking Lot in West Houston’ by Monica Youn
‘Elegy’ by Natasha Trethewey
‘Moon’ by Kathleen Jamie
Wildcard: At North Farm by John Ashberry

Word Doc: Discover Poetry August

July 5th 2018

‘Last Bus Ride in July – a Mother Speaks’  by Gerda Stevenson
‘The Big Mistake’ by Jim Carruth
‘Preface’ from Swims by Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
Wildcard (not available online): ‘What Happens to the Animals When the Woods are Burning?’ by Lorna Crozier

All four poems as a word doc: July Discover Poetry

June 7th 2018

‘Adlestrop’ by Edward Thomas
‘Easing’ by Alison Prince
‘How to Move Away’ by Lynn Pedersen
Our wildcard: ‘Try to Praise the Mutilated World‘, by Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare Cavanagh

All four as a word doc: June discover poetry

May 3rd 2018

I Go Back to May 1937 by Sharon Olds
The Burning Kite by Ouyang Jianghe trans. Austin Woerner
Scotland by Alastair Reid
Wildcard: Borderliner by Hannah Lowe

All four poems as a word doc: Discover Poetry – May

April 5th

In April the session will be lead by Eileen Pun in my absence. Our April poems are:

‘Amsterdam’ by Megan Fernandes
‘City Lilacs’ by Helen Dunmore
‘when faces called flowers float out of the ground’ by eecummings
‘Corruptive’ by Olena Kalytiak Davis

4 poems as a word doc: April Discover Poetry

March 1st

Our poems for March are:

‘Late February’ by Ted Kooser
‘The End of March’ by Elizabeth Bishop
‘Not Ideas About the Thing but the Thing Itself’ by Wallace Stevens
and our wild card is the catch-all ‘Instructions on Not Giving Up’ by Ada Limón, though if you missed October’s session, you might want to scroll up and read Jamaal May’s ‘The Gun Joke’.

4 poems as a word doc: March Discover Poetry

February 1st

‘February’ by Boris Pasternak, trans. Sasha Dugdale.
‘To the New Year’ by W.S.Merwin
‘Long Disconsolate Lines’ by Jane Cooper
3 poems as a word doc: Discover Poetry February

Our wild card is Ursula le Guin’s ‘January Night Prayer’.

December 7th

‘In the Mid-Midwinter’ by Liz Lochhead
‘A boy casting snow on winter barley’ by David Morley
‘Various Portents’ by Alice Oswald
December’s wildcard is ’57 varieties of Brexit’ by Brian Bilston.
All four poems as a word document: December discover poetry poems

Thanks to everyone who came along for the last group of 2017. As we spoke about, the ballad quoted in ‘In the Mid-Midwinter’ was Sir Patrick Spens (you can see Dorothy refer it here on Tuesday 4th May 1802). The other quote, ‘the light comes back’, is from Norman MacCaig’s poem ‘The White Bird’.

There is no meeting in January, but we’ll be back to mark the beginning of the light coming back on the first Thursday of February.

November 2nd

‘All Souls” by Sasha Dugdale
‘November’ by Maggie Dietz
‘Pumpkin’ by Theresa Muñoz
Novembers topical Wild Card is ‘Warning’ by Malika Booker. 

All four poems as a word document: Discover Poetry November Reading

October 5th

‘Blackberry Eating’ by Galway Kinnell
‘Glamourie’ by Kathleen Jamie
‘The Season of Phantasmal Peace’ by Derek Walcott

All three poems as a word document: Discover Poetry October Reading

October’s Wild Card poem is ‘The Gun Joke’ by Jamaal May.