Poetry & Spoken Word

A Rare Victory for Freedom of Speech in Turkey, as Pianist Is Allowed to Quote Omar Khayyam

Juan Cole / Truthdig Dec 29, 2015 In a win for freedom of speech in Turkey, the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals has completely overturned a lower court ruling that sentenced world-famous pianist Fazil Say to a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Best Truthdig Poetry of 2015

Staff / Truthdig Dec 21, 2015 Here are the 10 poems that readers liked best from our very own original political poetry series, inaugurated this year. Here are the 10 poems that readers liked best from our very own original political poetry series, inaugurated this year. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

In Dark Times, Poetry Can Enlighten Us

By Shatha Almutawa / OtherWords Dec 17, 2015 Artists are coming together to commemorate victims of violence and create bridges between America and the Middle East. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Gov. Jerry Brown Names Dana Gioia, Former Chairman of the NEA, California Poet Laureate

Staff / Truthdig Dec 14, 2015 The California governor announced earlier this month that Dana Gioia would take over the Golden State post, replacing Juan Felipe Herrera, who recently became U.S. poet laureate. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

AUDIO: ‘What War Is Good For’: A Painful Indictment of What Has Now Become the American Way

Staff / Truthdig Nov 25, 2015 Jay Sizemore's poem ponders why the U.S. is involved in war after war, a question that becomes increasingly relevant as the country continues interfering in the Middle East. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

AUDIO: ‘Where There Is Rust’: A Timely Poem About Knowledge in an Age of Deceptive Discourse

Staff / Truthdig Nov 11, 2015 "Let this inform you how/ to be informed" begin Peter Burzynski's scathing couplets on critical thinking at a time when misinformation floods our daily lives. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

AUDIO: ‘Thin Ice’: A Poem About Motherhood in the Age of Climate Change

Staff / Truthdig Oct 28, 2015 Penelope Moffet's poem, based on a Los Angeles Times article that narrates the story of a polar bear who loses her infant cub as she swims hundreds of miles to reach the nearest ice floe in an ever-melting Arctic sea, beautifully illustrates the effects of the man-made destruction of the natural world. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘The Inheritance of Trauma’: A Poem Explores How Suffering Leaves a Mark on Future Generations

Staff / Truthdig Oct 14, 2015 Based on a study that posits that the children of Holocaust survivors may inherit genes altered by their parents' trauma, Megan Collins' poem beautifully ponders how to live with the tragic fact that "blood remembers blood." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Channeling James Wright’: A Satirical Poem With an Important Message

Staff / Truthdig Sep 23, 2015 Shelley Puhak updates James Wright's "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota" to give it a modern political twist. The full title of her poem is "Channeling James Wright Near a Sand Mining Site in Minnesota." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

For the Children of the World Trade Center Victims

By BJ Ward Sep 11, 2015 "This poem is trying to reach your mother/ in her business skirt, and get her home/ to Ridgewood where she can change/ to her robe and sip Chamomile tea/ as she looks through the bay window at the old,/ untouched New York City skyline." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

AUDIO: ‘Most Officials Agree the Epidemic Could Have Been Contained Earlier’

Staff / Truthdig Aug 19, 2015 Poet Sonia Greenfield ruminates over the racism and ethnocentrism involved in international responses to epidemics, including the recent Ebola outbreak, which was mostly concentrated in West Africa. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

AUDIO: ‘Love in the Time of Climate Change’: A Romantic Call to Action in the Shape of a Poem

Staff / Truthdig Aug 5, 2015 Jocelyn Macdonald's poem about the environmental crisis will have you quitting meat, riding your bike, chasing your dreams and spooning the love by your side, all to "slow down the rising of seas, the death of the bees [and] the electric current of spreading disease." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )