An Easter Feast of Poems

The mysteries of Easter overflow its bounds: not a day, but 50 days of celebration; not 50 days, but a lifetime of alleluias. At its best, poetry can help us feel and understand and contemplate these overflowing mysteries, not solving or domesticating them, but letting us experience them more richly, more deeply, more vividly.

In that spirit, here’s a selection of poems for this year, each one as lovely as the last:

From Mary Oliver: “The World I Live In,” and also “Messenger” and “Thirst”

From Wendell Berry: “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” and an essay (including a poem by Berry): “Wendell Berry, Good Friday, and Earth Day”

From Joyce Kilmer, Marie Howe, and Lucille Clifton: Three Poems for Eastertide

From Michael Longley: “The Ice Cream Man”

From Jane Kenyon: “Briefly it Enters, and Briefly Speaks”

From Naomi Shihab Nye: “Kindness”

From Anne Porter: “Music”

From E. E. Cummings: “[i thank you god for most this amazing]”

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Happy Easter!
The SALT Team