25 Lines and Fewer

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ONLY poems listed here or in the current printed anthology are eligible for the 2012-2013 Poetry Out Loud competition. More information here.

Prison Song

By Alan Dugan

The skin ripples over my body like moon-wooed water,
rearing to escape me. Where could it find another
animal as naked as the one it hates to cover? . . .

The Promise

By Jane Hirshfield

Stay, I said
to the cut flowers.
They bowed . . .

Psalm

By George Oppen

In the small beauty of the forest
The wild deer bedding down—
That they are there! . . .

The Pulley

By George Herbert

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can. . . .

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