Why I Wrote This Poem

William Walsh, the author of eight books, is the director of the Reinhardt University undergraduate creative writing program and the MFA program. He has been published in such journals as Five Points, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review and Literary Matters. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Walsh does a great service to the lover of poetry…. Not only do you get exceptional poems; you also hear from the poets themselves about what inspired them, how they chose language and form, how they struggled to give birth to the version they finally shared with the world.”—Clayton Ramsey, Glint Literary Journal

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionKim Addoniziodelete“Cigar Box Banjo”deleteCigar Box Banjo ReflectionDavid Bakerdelete“Nineteen Spikes”deleteWriting in PerilAliki Barnstonedelete“Scripture for Coronavirus”deleteOn Writing “Scripture for Coronavirus”: E Pluribus UnumErin Belieudelete“With Birds”deleteNotes on “With Birds”Richard Blancodelete“Looking for The Gulf Motel”deleteMemory as HomelandDavid Bottomsdelete“Under the ­Vulture-Tree"deleteUnder the Vulture-Tree on the Wakulla RiverEarl Sherman Braggsdelete“Sandy Columbine Hook Parkland”deleteWhat We Come to Know, What Comes to KnowFred Chappelldelete“The Departures”deleteTheyChen Chendelete“The School of Night & Hyphens”deleteTelling the Truth About LoveMarilyn Chindelete“Bamboo, the Dance”deletePoetry of NecessityAma Codjoedelete“Burying Seeds”deleteOn Composing “Burying Seeds”Stephen Coreydelete“History of My Present”deleteThe History of “History of My Present”Chad Davidsondelete“Putting In”deleteThe Tricky Business of ElegiesDenise Duhameldelete“Recession Commandments”deleteLies I Told MyselfCamille Dungydelete“One Night in 1888, as the French steamboat ­Abd-el-Kader”deleteOne Night in 1888Stephen Dunndelete“Elementary”deleteResuscitating the “Elementary” PoemCornelius Eadydelete“Baldwin”deleteWriting “Baldwin”Martín Espadadelete“Letter to My Father”deleteNotes on “Letter to My Father”Beth Ann Fennellydelete“What I Think About When Someone Uses ‘Pussy’ as a Synonym for ‘Weak’”deleteOut of the Quarrel with OthersAnnie Finchdelete“A Root”deleteThe Roots of “A Root”Greg Fraserdelete“The Good News”deleteDelivering “The Good News”Alice Frimandelete“Under a Blind Eye”deleteConfession: On “Under a Blind Eye”Ángel Garcíadelete“Barely”deleteThe Man Inside the PoemMargaret Gibsondelete“Exchange”deleteOn Writing “Exchange”Nikki Giovannidelete“Knoxville, Tennessee”deleteIt’s Your Decision When You Want to ShareBeth Gylysdelete“My Father’s Nightmare”deleteMy Father’s Daughter: Sex, Lies, and Telling It SlantJanice N. Harringtondelete“Layered Pigments”deleteThe Layered Pigments of Elegy and Racial HistoryTerrance Hayesdelete“A POEM BY YOU” deleteEdward Hirschdelete“For the Sleepwalkers”deleteSomething WonderfulJane Hirshfielddelete“Today, When I Could Do Nothing”deleteOn Writing “Today, When I Could Do Nothing”Christine Kitanodelete“Dumb Luck”deleteWhat is the Ethnicity of the Speaker?Yusef Komunyakaadelete“My Good Hand Plays God”deleteThe HandsTed Kooserdelete“An Entrance”deletePoems of GestureDorianne Lauxdelete“Facts About the Moon”deleteLove in Spite of the FactsSandra Limdelete“A Tab of Iron on the Tongue”deleteThe Lunacy of Lyric PoetryAdrian Matejkadelete“Gymnopédies No. 2”deleteWhat Really HappenedAirea D. Matthewsdelete“If my late grandmother were Gertrude Stein”deleteIf Ain’tCampbell McGrathdelete“The Ladder”deleteIn the Castle of the StrangerDunya Mikhaildelete“The Stranger in Her Feminine Sign”deleteFemale Slave MarketRobert Morgandelete“Sigodlin”deleteThe World Made PlumbDavid Muradelete“South Carolina Sea Island”deleteWalking with GhostsMarilyn Nelsondelete“The Tulsa Convulsion”deleteFamily Trip to Oklahoma, 2018Laura Newberndelete“Novella”deleteOn “Novella” Annemarie Ní Churreáindelete“Six Ways to Wash Your Hands (Ayliffe 1978)”deleteIn the Shadow of Men Who Wanted to Conquer WildnessAlicia Ostrikerdelete“Listen”delete“Listen”: A Mother-Daughter Poem and How It GrewFrank Painodelete“Swallow”deleteWriting My ObsessionsSara Pirkledelete“What Hurts”deleteListing and ListeningJohn Pochdelete“Denzel Sestina”deleteDenzel &Paisley Rekdaldelete“Wild Horses”deleteOn Wild HorsesAlberto Ríosdelete“Refugio’s Hair”deleteThe Story Is RelativeTim Seiblesdelete“Movie”deleteThe Making of “Movie”Vijay Seshadridelete“Trailing Clouds of Glory”deleteSenate Bill 1070 and “Trailing Clouds of Glory”Patricia Smithdelete“Coo Coo Cachoo”deleteA Badass Woman Revises, Never CompromisesVirgil Suárezdelete“The Cotton Ball Queen”deleteNursing People Back to HealthMai Der Vangdelete“Prayer to the Redwood”deleteEver More Poems: A Poetics of Creation and AbundanceWilliam Walshdelete“Why Otters Hold Hands”deleteWhen a Young Woman MustAfaa M. Weaverdelete“Thelonius”deleteLiner Notes for “Thelonius”Artress Bethany Whitedelete“Vibrio Cholerae”deleteDocumenting Freedom at the Intersection of History and Disease in “Vibrio Cholerae”Carey Scott Wilkersondelete“Summer’s End”deletePoetry and Paradox and the Oracles of the NeighborhoodWilliam Wrightdelete“To a Minor Chinese Poet of the Kunlun Mountains”deletePersonal Grief as Empathetic ImaginationJenny Xiedelete“Melancholia”deleteProbing OpacityMonica Youndelete“A Guide to Usage: Mine”deleteMining the WordContributor NotesCredits and PermissionsIndex