Poetry Matters: On the Occasion of the 125th Anniversary of Poet Lore

O.B. Hardison Poetry Series 
Poet Lore Celebrates 125 Years of Literary Discovery 
September 15, 2014 
Folger Elizabethan Theatre

On the Occasion of the 125th Anniversary of Poet Lore

Our pens rest quietly atop shuddered Moleskins

As Jody Bolz encounters kindred spirits in ancient volumes 

And Ethelbert Miller extols the nourishment of editing

And Traci Brimhall conjures a forgotten heteronym

And Terrance Hayes dances with James Brown

And Cornelius Eady guards a soggy couch

And Linda Pastan charts a safe path towards death

I should be taking notes 

But the syncopation and the staccato 

Of the music floating from the podium

Eludes notation 

There, a quotation I want to remember

There, a stanza I want to ponder

There, an anecdote I want to re-render

But like a hummingbird hovering at petal's edge 

Each phrase arrests movement

And the surfeited fairy escapes uncaptured