Skip to main content
20 years
Narrative
x
manage_search Narrative
TELL ME A STORY
person
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
search
  • FICTION
  • POETRY
  • NONFICTION
  • LIBRARY
    • BY AUTHOR
    • BY THEME
    • BY TITLE, FORM, AUTHOR
    • NARRATIVE PRIZE WINNERS
    • STORY LISTS
    • CONTESTS
  • LEARN
    • NARRATIVE FOR SCHOOLS
    • HIGH SCHOOL CONTEST
    • WRITING PROMPTS
    • VIDEO TUTORIALS
    • WRITERS & MENTORS VIDEOS
    • ADVICE FOR WRITERS
    • WRITERS’ RESOURCES
    • RECOMMENDED READING
    • THEME-BASED READING GUIDE
    • EXPLORE BY THEME
    • A NOTE TO TEACHERS
    • A NOTE TO STUDENTS
    • ABOUT SCHOOLS
  • BACKSTAGE
  • STORE
  • SUBMIT YOUR WORK
  • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • MISSION
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • FRIENDS & PATRONS
    • EVENTS
    • NARRATIVE IN THE NEWS
    • FAQ
    • ADVERTISE IN NARRATIVE
  • DONATE
  • ADVERTISING
Narrative is a nonprofit
supported by readers
who love great writing.
Read us.
Support us.
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
Sign In
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
Narrative is a nonprofit
supported by readers
who love great writing.
Read us.
Support us.

Daniel Halpern is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Something Shining, Selected Poems, Foreign Neon, and Air (Copper Canyon Press, 2025), and has edited several anthologies of both poetry and prose. The founder and publisher of Ecco Press, he has received many awards, including the Maxwell Perkins Award, which recognizes an editor or publisher who has discovered, nurtured, and championed writers of fiction in the United States. Halpern taught in the Columbia MFA program, which he chaired for many years. In 1978, with James Michener, he founded the National Poetry Series. He is an executive editor at Knopf.

QUICK TAGS
Memory
Testimony
Inspiration
Death

FOLLOW US:

  • Add
  • What?

    by Daniel Halpern
    Share
    Facebook Facebook Threads Threads Reddit Reddit Forward Forward Print Print Copy link Copy link

    Why say it?
    That turf’s been so
    Trodden. Dusty.
    If not novel
    Reserve it for a thought
    To oneself.

    Can you repeat the overstated
    And have it mean
    Something
    For the first time?
    What’s not the first time
    If each time is the first?


    People on couch
    To continue reading please sign in.
    Join for free
    Already a reader? Sign In

    Story Right Column Menu

    • NARRATIVE FOR SCHOOLS
    • SEARCH THE LIBRARY
    • SEARCH BY THEME
    • WRITERS’ RESOURCES
    • SUBMIT YOUR WORK
    • SUPPORT NARRATIVE

    Hello. Log In.

    Reader Comments

    There are not yet any comments on this story. Would you like to leave one?

    • CONTACT US
    • ADVERTISE
    • MY ACCOUNT
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS OF USE
    • A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
    Narrative is a nonprofit
    supported by readers
    who love great writing.
    Read us.
    Support us.