Neil Astley 17 Introduction 1 Staying human Tom Leonard 22 Being a Human Being Patrizia Cavalli 22 'Here I am, I do my bit...' Goeran Sonnevi 23 'Whose life? you asked' Fernando Pessoa 24 They Spoke to Me of People, and of Humanity John Barr 24 Bonsai Master Audre Lorde 25 A Litany for Survival Robert Pinsky 26 Samurai Song Zeina Hashem Beck 27 You Fixed It Janet Fisher 28 Life and Other Terms Vincenza Holland 29 Excuse Me U.A. Fanthorpe 30 A Minor Role Pippa Little 31 Against Hate Tatamkhulu Afrika 32 The Woman at the Till Ellery Akers 33 The Word That Is a Prayer Danusha Lameris 34 Insha'Allah David Friedland 35 Blind man Danusha Lameris 35 Small Kindnesses Mimi Khalvati 36 Smiles Mimi Khalvati 37 The Brag Nikola Madzirov 37 When Someone Goes Away Everything That's Been Done Comes Back Ellen Bass 38 Gate C22 Naomi Shihab Nye 39 Gate A-4 Fred D'Aguiar 41 Excise Thomas Kinsella 42 Mirror in February Charles Simic 42 Mirrors at 4 a.m. Zhang Zao 43 Mirror Rachael Boast 44 Desperate Meetings of Hermaphrodites Werner Aspenstroem 44 You and I and the World Kaveh Akbar 45 What Use Is Knowing Anything If No One Is Around Tim Liardet 46 Self-Portrait with Aquarium Octopus Flashing a Mirror M. Vasalis 47 The IJsselmeer Dam Stewart Conn 47 Conundrum Valerio Magrelli 48 Vanishing Point Richard Siken 49 Landscape with Fruit Rot and Millipede Marjorie Lotfi Gill 50 Gift Patrizia Cavalli 51 'I'm pretty clear, I'm dying...' Lawrence Sail 51 Recognition Tracy K. Smith 52 Nanluoxiang Alley Dzifa Benson 52 Self Portrait as a Creature of Numbers Wislawa Szymborska 53 A Contribution to Statistics Gennady Aygi 55 People Linda Anderson 56 Sanctuary Judith Herzberg 56 The Way Anna Swir 57 The Same Inside Martin Espada 58 Rednecks Natalie Diaz 59 The Beauty of a Busted Fruit Suji Kwock Kim 59 Monologue for an Onion Nadine Aisha Jassat 60 The Years Nadine Aisha Jassat 61 Let Me Tell You Jessica Traynor 62 In Praise of Fixer Women Marie Howe 63 Magdalene Afterwards Marie Howe 65 One Day Tishani Doshi 65 Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods 2 Ten Zillion Things Mark Strand 68 Lines for Winter Linda Pastan 68 Imaginary Conversation Jack Gilbert 69 Failing and Flying Gillian Clarke 70 Snow Vladmir Holan 71 Snow W.N. Herbert 71 Breakfrost Derek Mahon 72 Rising Late Michelle O'Sullivan 74 What Was Mistook Michelle O'Sullivan 74 Lines John F. Deane 75 The Red Gate Alison Brackenbury 75 So Ellen Bass 76 Any Common Desolation Lisel Mueller 77 In Passing Leanne O'Sullivan 77 A Healing Hanny Michaelis 78 'It's terrible...' John F. Deane 78 The World is Charged David Butler 79 And Then The Sun Broke Through William Stafford 80 You Reading This, Be Ready Hanny Michaelis 80 'Over the years...' Deryn Rees-Jones 81 Meteor Tuvia Ruebner 81 Wonder Blake Morrison 82 Happiness Jack Underwood 82 Happiness Ruth Stone 83 Wanting Mikiro Sasaki 84 Sentiments David Ferry 84 Lake Water Randall Jarrell 86 Well Water Seamus Heaney 87 A Drink of Water Lani O'Hanlon 87 Going to the Well Denise Levertov 88 The Fountain G.F. Dutton 89 The Miraculous Issue George Szirtes 90 Water Moya Cannon 91 Introductions A.E. Stallings 91 Olives Jan Wagner 92 quince jelly Louis de Paor 93 Marmalade Sarah Lindsay 95 If God Made Jam Craig Arnold 95 Meditation on a Grapefruit Ales Steger 96 Chocolate Ales Steger 97 Egg Thomas Lux 98 Refrigerator, 1957 Connie Bensley 99 Cookery Mary Ruefle 100 Timberland Matthew Dickman 101 The World is Too Huge to Grasp Linda Gregg 102 Let Birds Imtiaz Dharker 103 Carving Alice Oswald 104 A Short History of Falling Aracelis Girmay 105 Ars Poetica Ruth Sharman 105 Fragments Carlos Drummond de Andrade 106 The House of Lost Time Vera Pavlova 107 'If there is something to desire...' Luis Munoz 107 Leave Poetry Boris A. Novak 108 Decisions: 11 Carlos Drummond de Andrade 109 Absence Mairead Byrne 109 Facing the Music Ruth Sharman 110 Hilltop Dennis O'Driscoll 110 Nocturne 3 Innocence and experience Malika Booker 112 Cement Malika Booker 113 Erasure Tracey Herd 114 Happy Birthday Sinead Morrissey 115 Fairground Music Sharon Olds 116 To Our Miscarried One, Age Thirty Now Dorothea Lasky 117 The Miscarriage Fiona Benson 118 Sheep Derry O'Sullivan 119 Stillborn 1943: Calling Limbo Deirdre Brennan 120 Born Dead Noelle Lynskey 121 Still Born Sandeep Parmar 122 An uncommon language Aoife Lyall 124 Sounds of that day Aoife Lyall 125 Ubi Sunt Catriona Clutterbuck 126 Her Body Rebecca Goss 126 The Lights Ciara MacLaverty 127 'That's Quite a Trick If You Can Pull It Off' Fiona Benson 128 Prayer Hannah Sullivan 128 from The Sandpit after Rain Mona Arshi 129 Delivery Room Doireann Ni Ghriofa 130 Inventory: Recovery Room Justyna Bargielska 130 Different rose Zoe Brigley 131 Star / Sun / Snow Doireann Ni Ghriofa 133 Jigsaw Puzzle Jack Underwood 133 William Rebecca Goss 134 Last Poem Fiona Benson 135 Hide and Seek Ellen Cranich 136 Blasket Sound Niall Campbell 137 Night Watch Niall Campbell 138 February Morning Liz Berry 138 The Republic of Motherhood Rebecca Goss 140 My Animal Fiona Benson 140 Ruins Moya Cannon 141 Milk Esther Morgan 142 Latch Ailbhe Darcy 142 After my son was born Hollie McNish 143 Embarrassed Stephanie Norgate 146 Miracle Lauris Edmond 147 Late song Peter Sansom 148 Mini Van Sharon Olds 148 I Cannot Say I Did Not Katharine Towers 149 Childhood Lucille Clifton 150 daughters Jane Clarke 150 The trouble Brenda Shaughnessy 151 I Wish I Had More Sisters Ann Gray 153 I wish I had more mothers Gretchen Marquette 154 Want Tess Gallagher 155 With Stars Tess Gallagher 156 I Stop Writing the Poem Jane Clarke 156 Hers Naomi Shihab Nye 157 Shoulders Olivia McCannon 158 New Road Leanne O'Sullivan 159 My Father Asks Why Leanne O'Sullivan 160 The Cord Naomi Shihab Nye 161 Supple Cord Gwendolyn Brooks 162 a song in the front yard Tracy K. Smith 162 The World Is Your Beautiful Younger Sister Penelope Shuttle 163 Outgrown Carol Ann Duffy 164 Empty Nest Anna Enquist 165 All at Once Inua Ellams 165 Swallow Twice Jacob Sam-La Rose 166 Never Jacob Sam-La Rose 166 The Other End of the Line Jericho Brown 168 Prayer of the Backhanded Jericho Brown 169 As a Human Being Doireann Ni Ghriofa 170 Tooth Anne Michaels 172 from Correspondences: a poem Abigail Parry 176 The Quilt Safiya Sinclair 177 Family Portrait Pascale Petit 178 My Mother's Love Pascale Petit 179 Her Harpy Eagle Claws Pascale Petit 180 My Wolverine Jacqueline Bishop 181 Snakes Selima Hill 182 from Grunter Selima Hill 185 from Sunday Afternoons at the Gravel-pits Shivanee Ramlochan 188 from The Red Thread Cycle Zoe Brigley 190 The Eye in the Wall Nicki Heinen 191 Solent Ward, Royal Free Hospital, 2008 Aria Aber 192 Asylum Sasha Dugdale 194 Asylum Sasha Dugdale 195 'Perhaps Akhmatova was right' Xidu Heshang 196 Fictionalising Her Tony Hoagland 197 Personal 4 After Frank O'Hara Frank O'Hara 200 The Day Lady Died Rita Dove 201 Canary John Burnside 201 The Day Etta Died Clare Pollard 202 The Day Amy Died Nick Flynn 203 The Day Lou Reed Died Ian McMillan 205 The Evening of the Day Pavarotti Died Anjum Hasan 205 The Day No One Died Frank O'Hara 206 Autobiographia Literaria Safiya Sinclair 207 Autobiography Geoff Hattersley 208 Frank O'Hara Five, Geoffrey Chaucer Nil Simon Armitage 208 Poem Martina Evans 209 I Want to Be like Frank O'Hara Phoebe Stuckes 210 Kiss me quick Frank O'Hara 211 Katy Roger Reeves 211 Someday I'll Love Roger Reeves Ocean Vuong 212 Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong Frank O'Hara 213 Why I Am Not a Painter Maria Barnas 214 Why I Am Not a Painter Matthew Sweeney 215 My Life as a Painter Adam Zagajewski 216 Describing Paintings 5 Harmony and discord John Hegley 218 A Declaration of Need Robert Wrigley 218 A Lock of Her Hair Jackie Kay 219 High Land Marie Howe 220 Low Tide, Late August Katharine Kilalea 220 You were a bird Sarah Lindsay 221 The Arms of a Marvelous Squid Warsan Shire 222 for women who are difficult to love Jericho Brown 223 Colosseum Jericho Brown 224 Of My Fury Caroline Bird 225 Marriage of Equals Joan Larkin 226 Want Chen Chen 227 Poem in Noisy Mouthfuls Mary Jean Chan 229 // Jane Clarke 230 Vows Miriam Nash 231 Love Song for a Keeper Seamus Heaney 232 Scaffolding Valerio Magrelli 232 The Embrace Vidyan Ravinthiran 233 Aubade Leanne O'Sullivan 233 Leaving Early Leanne O'Sullivan 234 Note Alex Dimitrov 235 Some New Thing Eavan Boland 236 Lines for a Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary Hester Knibbe 236 Yes Dick Davis 237 Uxor Vivamus... Dick Davis 238 Making a Meal of It Wendy Cope 239 To My Husband Wendy Cope 239 One Day Anne Haverty 240 Objecting to Everything Elaine Feinstein 242 A Visit Tara Bergin 242 Wedding Cake Decorations Ranjit Hoskote 242 Couple Rebecca Perry 243 Windows Joan Margarit 244 Love is a place John Challis 244 The Love Fleur Adcock 245 Happy Ending Kei Miller 246 Epilogue Conor O'Callaghan 246 Kingdom Come Vona Groarke 247 Ghost Poem Phoebe Stuckes 248 Gold Hoop Earrings Phoebe Stuckes 249 Attempt Cynthia Huntington 250 For Love Bobby Parker 251 Working Class Voodoo Melissa Lee-Houghton 252 Love-Smitten Heart Louis Jenkins 255 Fish Out of Water Sarah Holland-Batt 255 No End to Images Patrizia Cavalli 256 'Very simple love that believes in words...' Natalie Shaw 257 Like when we went to the cinema that time Dario Jaramillo 258 from Impossible Loves Dario Jaramillo 258 Mozart on the Motorway Michael Longley 259 Ceilidh Derek Mahon 260 Aran Paddy Bushe 261 The Rolling Wave Seamus Heaney 262 The Given Note Gerard Fanning 262 That Note Seamus Heaney 263 Song Adam Zagajewski 264 Music Heard with You Elizabeth Burns 265 Listening to Bach's B Minor Mass in the Kitchen Lars Gustafsson 266 The silence of the world before Bach Adam Zagajewski 266 Chaconne Jane Hirshfield 267 Even the Vanishing Housed Tomas Transtroemer 268 Schubertiana Tomas Transtroemer 270 Allegro Gregory Orr 270 To Be Alive 6 Mortal hurt Tomas Transtroemer 272 The Half-Finished Heaven Jan Erik Vold 272 The Fact That No Birds Sing Galway Kinnell 274 Wait Louise Gluck 275 from Averno Caroline Bird 276 The End of the Bed Caroline Bird 277 A Surreal Joke Ken Babstock 278 As Marginalia in John Clare's The Rural Muse Lieke Marsman 279 The Following Scan Will Last Less Than a Minute Lieke Marsman 279 The Following Scan Will Last One Minute Lieke Marsman 280 The Following Scan Will Last Five Minutes Jo Shapcott 281 Of Mutability Ilyse Kusnetz 282 Harbinger Julie O'Callaghan 283 No Can Do Wayne Holloway-Smith 284 'the posh mums are boxing in the square...' Anna Swir 285 My Body Effervesces Robert Hass 286 A Story About the Body Max Ritvo 286 Poem to My Litter Max Ritvo 288 Heaven Is Us Being a Flower Together Max Ritvo 289 Cachexia Mark Doty 290 Michael's Dream Ana Ristovic 291 The Body Elaine Feinstein 292 Long Life Ruth Stone 293 The Excuse Finuala Dowling 294 At eighty-five, my mother's mind Finuala Dowling 295 Widowhood in the dementia ward Finuala Dowling 295 Birthday in the dementia ward Judith Herzberg 296 Old Age Roger McGough 296 The Wrong Beds Geraldine Mitchell 297 Sneak Geraldine Mitchell 297 How the Body Remembers Elise Partridge 298 from The Book of Steve Menno Wigman 298 Everyone Is Beautiful Today Michael Longley 299 Age Thomas Lynch 300 Refusing at Fifty-two to Write Sonnets Dermot Healy 300 As You Get Older Mary O'Malley 301 A Lift James Fenton 302 For Andrew Wood Vijay Seshadri 303 Bright Copper Kettles Anne Stevenson 304 Anaesthesia Elise Partridge 305 Last Days Michael O'Loughlin 306 In This Life Zaffar Kunial 308 Prayer Adil Jussawalla 308 Mother's Ninety-fourth Birthday Menno Wigman 309 Body, my body Janet Ayachi 309 Spooning Stars Matthew Sweeney 310 The Tube Kerry Hardie 311 Ship of Death Sara Berkeley Tolchin 312 Burrow Beach Helen Dunmore 313 My life's stem was cut Helen Dunmore 314 Hold out your arms Lorna Goodison 316 My Mother's Sea Chanty Vicki Feaver 316 You Are Not Sharon Olds 318 In the Temple Basement Emily Berry 319 The photo that is most troubling is the one I don't want to show you Annemarie Austin 320 from Country Annemarie Austin 320 What My Double Will Steven Matthews 321 Last Christmas Cracker Kerry Hardie 322 After My Father Died Valerie Rouzeau 322 from Vrouz Bernard O'Donoghue 323 Ter Conatus Eilean Ni Chuilleanain 324 The Morandi Bridge Jay Whittaker 325 The call Jay Whittaker 325 Bed fellow Ruth Fainlight 326 Oxygen Mask Ruth Fainlight 327 Somewhere Else Entirely Elaine Feinstein 328 Beds Imtiaz Dharker 328 Screen-saver Imtiaz Dharker 329 Passport photo Imtiaz Dharker 330 Say his name Gillian Clarke 330 Honesty Katie Donovan 331 Off Duty Eunice de Souza 331 Advice to Women Ron Koertge 332 Lily Wislawa Szymborska 332 Cat in an Empty Apartment Theresa Lola 333 Tailoring Grief Wislawa Szymborska 334 The Day After - Without Us Billy Collins 335 Helium Mary Ruefle 336 Trust Me Lucie Brock-Boido 337 Soul Keeping Company Dean Young 338 Street of Sailmakers Denise Riley 339 Listening for Lost People Dennis O'Driscoll 340 Then Julie O'Callaghan 341 Beyond Julie O'Callaghan 341 Cyber You Alison Brackenbury 342 All 7 Interesting times Selina Nwulu 344 We have everything we need Derek Mahon 345 Insomnia Colette Bryce 346 Helicopters Jennifer L. Knox 347 Drones Colette Bryce 348 Belfast Waking, 6 a.m. Doireann Ni Ghriofa 349 On Patrick Street Imtiaz Dharker 350 Flight Radar Jean Sprackland 351 CCTV Jasmine Ann Cooray 352 Call Centre Blues John Cooper Clarke 352 Bed Blocker Blues David Constantine 354 Pity Jacob Saenz 355 Sweeping the States Jane Commane 356 Midlands kids Sarah Howe 357 On a line by Xu Lizhi Jeong Ho-seung 358 Death of a Cellphone Sabeer Haka 358 Politics Sabeer Haka 359 Mulberries Paul Farley 359 Hole in the Wall Zohar Atkins 360 Song of Myself (Apocryphal) Tim Turnbull 361 Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn Caitlin Nic Iomhair 363 Praise the Young Jessica Mookherjee 363 Ursa Minor Theresa Munoz 364 Be the first to like this A.E. Stallings 365 Like, the Sestina 8 Roots and routes Deryn Rees-Jones 368 Home Nina Bogin 368 Initiation, II Maura Dooley 369 Dancing at Oakmead Road Eavan Boland 370 Nocturne Tom French 371 The Last Light Peter Sirr 371 from The Rooms Jane Clarke 374 Who owns the field? Kirun Kapur 374 Anthem David Dabydeen 375 Catching Crabs Ales Debeljak 376 A Letter Home Stanislaw Baranczak 377 If China Arundhathi Subramaniam 378 Home Moniza Alvi 378 And if Vidyan Ravinthiran 379 Ceylon Vidyan Ravinthiran 380 My Sri Lankan Family Daljit Nagra 380 Our Town with the Whole of India Roger Robinson 382 To His Homeland Elisabeth Sennitt Clough 382 Potato Season Mir Mahfuz Ali 383 My Son Waits by the Door Alberto Rios 384 We Are of a Tribe Vahni Capildeo 385 Going Nowhere, Getting Somewhere Imtiaz Dharker 386 Chaudhri Sher Mobarik looks at the loch Andre Naffis-Sahely 387 Vanishing Act Andre Naffis-Sahely 387 An Island of Strangers Adam Zagajewski 388 The Three Kings John Agard 389 Checking Out Me History Sujata Bhatt 391 A Different History Karin Karakasli 392 History-Geography Amir Darwish 393 Where I come from Imtiaz Dharker 394 Minority Luis Munoz 395 The Foreigner Hama Tuma 396 Just a Nobody Amarjit Chandan 396 In This Country Keki Daruwalla 397 Migrations Beata Duncan 399 The Notebook Mina Gorji 400 Exit Adam Zagajewski 401 Refugees Wislawa Szymborska 402 Some People Bejan Matur 403 Night Spent in the Temple of a Patient God Bejan Matur 404 The Moon Sucks up Our Grief Ribka Sibhatu 406 In Lampedusa Musa Okwonga 408 Hundreds of cockroaches drowned today Azita Ghahreman 408 The Boat That Brought Me Carolyn Forche 409 The Boatman Linda Gregerson 410 from Sleeping Bear Naomi Shihab Nye 411 Mediterranean Blue Kimiko Hahn 411 After being asked if I write 'the occasional poem' Reza Mohammadi 412 Illegal Immigrant Moniza Alvi 413 Flight Fadwa Soulieman 414 For Lana Sadiq Audre Lorde 415 Diaspora Philip Gross 416 The Displaced Persons Camp Teresa Samuel Ibrahim 416 Longing Teresa Samuel Ibrahim 417 The last train across Ariat Bridge Warsan Shire 418 Conversations about home Sabeer Haka 420 Home Gabeba Baderoon 420 I Cannot Myself 9 Empathy and conflict Kwame Dawes 422 Land Ho Edward Baugh 422 A Nineteenth-century Portrait Kevin Young 423 Reward Martin Espada 425 How We Could Have Lived or Died This Way Gwendolyn Brooks 426 We Real Cool Terrance Hayes 427 The Golden Shovel Wanda Coleman 429 American Sonnet: 94 Terrance Hayes 429 American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin Terrance Hayes 430 American Sonnet for the New Year Patricia Smith 431 That Chile Emmett in the Casket James Berry 432 Travelling As We Are James Berry 433 In-a Brixtan Markit Elizabeth Alexander 434 Smile Patricia Smith 435 10-Year-Old Shot Three Times, but She's Fine Jericho Brown 436 Bullet Points Danez Smith 437 the bullet was a girl Evie Shockley 438 supply and demand Dean Bowen 439 mi skin Kayo Chingonyi 440 The N Word Natasha Trethewey 441 Flounder Natasha Trethewey 442 Help, 1968 Hannah Lowe 443 Dance Class Hannah Lowe 443 Sausages Rita Dove 444 After Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed Raymond Antrobus 445 Jamaican British Anthony Anaxagorou 446 Cause Anthony Anaxagorou 447 Departure Lounge Twenty Seventeen Claudia Rankine 449 from Citizen Claudia Rankine 450 from August 4, 2011 / In Memory of Mark Duggan Roy McFarlane 453 from ...they killed them Danez Smith 454 dinosaurs in the hood Thomas McCarthy 456 Slow Food Imtiaz Dharker 456 A Century Later Remco Campert 457 Poetry Leanne O'Sullivan 458 Safe House Ilya Kaminsky 459 We Lived Happily during the War Ilya Kaminsky 460 In a Time of Peace Luis Munoz 461 Breathing Fatimah Asghar 461 If They Come for Us Solmaz Sharif 463 Look Lorraine Mariner 465 Thursday Chrissy Williams 466 The Burning of the Houses Ishion Hutchinson 466 The Garden Major Jackson 468 Selling Out Jay Bernard 470 Clearing Jay Bernard 471 + Jay Bernard 471 - Roger Robinson 472 Doppelganger Roger Robinson 473 The Portrait Museum Roger Robinson 474 The Father Valerio Magrelli 474 The Boundary Andre Mangeot 475 Bellwether Deborah Moffatt 475 Eating Thistles Choman Hardi 476 Dispute Over a Mass Grave Choman Hardi 477 A Day for Love Seamus Heaney 478 Chorus from The Cure at Troy 10 The future? Nick Drake 480 Stranger Thing Sarah Westcott 481 The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Maura Dooley 481 Still Life with Sea Pinks and High Tide Polly Atkin 482 Colony Collapse Disorder Frank Baez 483 Exodus Mikeas Sanchez 484 What Is It Worth? David Constantine 484 Dominion Dom Bury 485 The Body's New Weather Patrick Deeley 486 Two Hundred Million Animals Patrick Deeley 487 The End of the World Jack Underwood 487 Alpha Step Chase Twichell 488 Birdsong Chase Twichell 489 Herds of Humans David Tait 490 By Degrees David Tait 490 The Virus at My Window Imtiaz Dharker 491 Cranes Lean In Peter Sirr 492 Ode Gerda Stevenson 493 Hands Amit Majmudar 494 An American Nurse Foresees Her Death Imtiaz Dharker 494 Seen from a Drone, Delhi Imtiaz Dharker 496 Seen from a Drone, Mumbai Ruth Padel 497 Still life with a map of the world outside the window Joshua Bennett 498 Dad Poem Nick Drake 499 The Future 501 Acknowledgements 510 Index of writers 517 Index of titles and first lines
