The title of this poem subverts expectations right away. After all, we associate summer with pleasure: vacations, the beach, sunshine. Each line operates in the declarative. Many lines end with a ...

William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), whose “Spring and All” appeared as the Sun’s Poem of the Day on May 2, famously defined a poem as “a small (or large) machine made of words.” It’s a strange ...

Even with the new school year starting, we still have a few more summer weeks ahead of us. I thought I’d share some poems. This first one hit me with immediacy as we are in the throws of fly season.

When “A Child’s Garden of Verses” appeared in 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was already failing, as the ups and downs of his consumption would lead to his death from a stroke at age 44. The ...

"Realistic oil paintings are flanked by poems about jump rope, dandelions, balloons and fireworks—made appealing by the author's great enthusiasm," noted PW. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) ...