Famous poet, Brad Leithauser, wrote A Good List while lying awake in his bed in Iceland one evening. “A Good List” gives a humorous and lighthearted list of things Leithauser has “never done wrong” (Leithauser). His literal “good list” ranges from describing how he has never stolen any gnomes from a garden to his refusal to forge a lottery ticket. At first I was curious as to why Leithauser was going into depth about his “good list.” However, it becomes clear by the end of the poem that he uses this list to distract and exhaust out his brain, when…

The poem, From the “Lives of My Friends,” by Michael Dickman, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/14/from-the-lives-of-my-friends was first published in the New Yorker in 2009 and is a coming of age story that explores the impact of childhood friends on our lives as we grow old with them. Michael Dickman grew up in Portland, Oregon and is the author of three books, The End of the West, Flies, and Mayakovsky’s Revolver. He is the recipient of The Honickman First Book Prize, The May Sarton Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Kate Tufts Award from Claremont College, and the 2009 Oregon…

Poems have the ability to connect people to the power of the written word in a way that books cannot. Often times, a shorter poem can result in a more thought-provoking the message, as the reader can spin a million interpretations and connections. I chose three very different poems from the 2009 volume of Best American Poetry (https://www.bestamericanpoetry.com/ pages/volumes/?id=2009) to analyze because they touch on many disparate American ideals – from gun-toting thieves and homes, to finding one’s soul. The humor and clever associations found in these poems make them intriguing to read. “They knew What They Wanted” by John…