Diane Lockward

Like my two earlier books, this one is geared towards the practicing poet who already has a knowledge of the basic skills of poetry

Collectively, these poems provide an anthology of contemporary poetry and reflect The Practicing Poet’s underlying philosophy that the craft of poetry can be taught and its best teacher is a good poem.

Each model poem is followed by an analysis of its craft and then a prompt that asks the reader to practice the skills demonstrated in the model poem. Two sample poems follow each prompt. C

Three years in the making, this book would not exist without the generous contributions of so many poets.

This book pushes poets beyond the basics and encourages the continued reading, learning, and writing of poetry

while teaching in the University of Arkansas’ Writers in the Schools program as a graduate student working on my MFA

I’m never happier than with a full page of scattered words in front of me.

While every draft produced from a word bank might not make it to publication, this process has a strong track record of stimulating new poems.

Is there anything harder for a parent to witness than a child’s pain? That’s the topic DiGiorgio tackles in this poem.

The poem then ends with a powerful metaphor: the child is a dark splinter in white sheets.