LOVE INTERESTS AND A GOAT. In the Top Five Poems of the Week from the past year, treasured attachments are explored with wit and humanity: a woman cherishes the simple domestic patterns that frame her life; a possessive love inspires a runaway fantasy; a door-to-door salesman backs away from a woman’s boyfriend, and she suddenly understands how mean the boyfriend is; at a party two men go outside and, gazing up at the stars, reflect on the nature of yearning; and when a goat devours a woman’s beloved Bible, she quips she doesn’t mind losing Leviticus. Grace, humor, and even the ripples of disturbance in these poems offer exquisite pleasure.
The Poem of the Week series for 2013–2014 starts on October 27. If you would like to send a poem for consideration as a Poem of the Week, please see our Guidelines. Each October the top five Poems of the Week are selected for special notice.
Congratulations to the winners. Each receives a $200 award.
Debra Marquart
Door-to-Door
Within minutes we were in the bedroom.
Bob Hicok
Speaking American
Poetry isn’t work unless you’re reading it.
Ellen Bass
Ode to Repetition
I like the same dishes stacked in the same cupboards.
Dawn McGuire
Dear Salvation Army
He’s grazing my books. He is a goat.
Jay Deshpande
On the Meaning of Love
I told her how the moon was her reflection.
