How a poem puts skin on a mystery; Philip Levine, "Making Light of It" -- How a poem shapes memory; Deborah Digges, "Stealing Lilacs in the Cemetery" -- How a poem articulates a feeling; C.K. Williams, "Love: Beginnings" -- How a poem crystallizes an image; Yusef Komunyakaa, "Yellowjackets" -- How a poem makes meaning with music; Elise Partridge, "Domestic Interior:Child Watching Mother" -- How a poem snapshots a moment of drama; Tiphanie Yanique, "My brother comes to me" -- How a poem seduces us with outlandishness; Diane Seuss, "Free beer" -- How a poem cooks up dark insight; Philip Metres, "Recipe from the Abbasid" -- How a poem pushes us away and beckons us closer; Marilyn Dumont, "How to Make Pemmican" -- How a poem wrestles with its inheritance; Rahat Kurd, "Ghazal: In the Persian" -- How a poem lives between languages; Natalia Toledo, trans. Clare Sullivan, "Flower that drops its petals" -- How a poem invites us to praise; Ross Gay, "Ode to Drinking Water from My Hands" -- How a poem answers some questions but not others; Amber McMillan, "The Light I've Seen in Your Hair I Have Found in My Own Hands" -- How a poem clarifies its blur; Jeff Latosik, "Aubade Photoshop" -- How a poem changes as we read; Ali Blythe, "Shattered" -- How a poem will (not) save us; Raoul Fernandes, "Life with Tigers" -- How a poem loves a misunderstanding; Richard Siken, "Dots Everywhere" -- How a poem mistrusts its idols; Cassidy McFadzean, "You Be the Skipper, I'll Be the Sea" -- How a poem doesn't dish; Damian Rogers, "Ode to a Rolling Blackout" -- How a poem impersonates a tomato; Oliver Bendorf, "Queer Facts about Vegetables" -- How a poem seeks new models; Shannon Maguire, "[The most visible ants are]" -- How a poem makes itself out of unusual materials; Madhur Anand, "Especially in a Time" -- How a poem chooses the apocalypse behind curtain #3; Jennifer L. Know, "The New Let's Make a Deal" -- How a poem assembles a smashed record the obstacles; Donna Stonecipher, "Model City [4]" -- How a poem tried to connect us to the neighbourhood; Bren Simmer, "[Night of nesting dolls]" -- How a poem evokes wonder; Sarah Holland-Batt, "Botany" -- How a poem reaches for transcendence; Eric Pankey,"Ash" -- How a poem mourns; Don Paterson, "Mercies" -- How a poem confronts the limitations of our empathy; Soraya Peerbaye, "Trials" -- How a poem Tries to get into it; Rowan Ricardo Phillips, "Little Song" -- How a poem chattily wonders about life's purpose; Ulrikka S. Gernes, "On H.C. Anderson Boulevard During Rush Hour" -- How a poem transform a stroll into a ceremony; Joy Harjo, "Walk" -- How a poem imperfectly reconciles complexity; Liz Howard, "A Wake" -- How a poem Haunts; Norman Dubie, "Lines for Little Mila.

"A collection of playfully elucidating essays to help reluctant poetry readers become well-versed in verse Developed from Adam Sol's popular blog, How a Poem Moves is a collection of 35 short essays that walks readers through an array of contemporary poems. Sol is a dynamic teacher, and in these essays, he has captured the humor and engaging intelligence for which he is known in the classroom. With a breezy style, Sol delivers essays that are perfect for a quick read or to be grouped together as a curriculum. Though How a Poem Moves is not a textbook, it demonstrates poetry's range and pleasures through encounters with individual poems that span traditions, techniques, and ambitions. This illuminating book is for readers who are afraid they "don't get" poetry but who believe that, with a welcoming guide, they might conquer their fear and cultivate a new appreciation."--