Birds singing
 in the dark
—Rainy dawn.(Read full poem)

2. Haiku - written by Jack Kerouac
From Book of Haiku. Published in 1968. Read 6503 times on American Poems.

The low yellow
  moon above the
Quiet lamplit house(Read full poem)

The taste
 of rain
—Why kneel?(Read full poem)

4. Haiku (Never Published) - written by Allen Ginsberg
From Journals Mid Fifties 1954-1958. Published in 1955. Read 7982 times on American Poems.

Drinking my tea
Without sugar-
    No difference.
                                        
The sparrow shits
    upside down
--ah! my brain & eggs
                                        
Mayan head in a
Pacific driftwood bole
--Someday I'll... (Read full poem)

A long -- long Sleep -- A famous -- Sleep --
That makes no show for Morn --
By Stretch of Limb -- or stir of Lid --
An independent One --

Was ever idleness like This?
Upon a Bank of Stone
To bask the Centuries away --
Nor once look up -- for Noon?(Read full poem)

6. What Can We Do? - written by Charles Bukowski
Read 3807 times on American Poems.

at their best, there is gentleness in Humanity.
some understanding and, at times, acts of
courage
but all in all it is a mass, a glob that doesn't
have too much.
it is like a large animal deep in sleep and
almost nothing can awaken it.
when... (Read full poem)

I see you drinking at a fountain with tiny
blue hands, no, your hands are not tiny
they are small, and the fountain is in France
where you wrote me that last letter and
I answered and never heard from you again.
you used to write insane poems... (Read full poem)

8. This - written by Charles Bukowski
Read 2589 times on American Poems.

self-congratulatory nonsense as the
famous gather to applaud their seeming
greatness
you
wonder where 
the real ones are
what 
giant cave
hides them
as
the deathly talentless
bow to
accolades
as
the fools are
fooled
again
you 
wonder where 
the real... (Read full poem)

A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?(Read full poem)

10. The List of Famous Hats - written by James Tate
From Reckoner. Published in 1986. Read 7582 times on American Poems.

Napoleon's hat is an obvious choice I guess to list as a famous
hat, but that's not the hat I have in mind. That was his hat for
show. I am thinking of his private bathing cap, which in all hon-
esty wasn't much different than the one any jerk... (Read full poem)

I had sex with a famous poet last night 
and when I rolled over and found myself beside him I shuddered 
because I was married to someone else, 
because I wasn't supposed to have been drinking,
because I was in fancy hotel room
I didn't... (Read full poem)

12. Dream Song 133: As he grew famous—ah, but what is fame? - written by John Berryman
From His Toy, His Dream, His Rest. Published in 1968. Read 694 times on American Poems.

As he grew famous—ah, but what is fame?—
he lost his old obsession with his name,
things seemed to matter less,
including the fame—a television team came
from another country to make a film of him
which did not him... (Read full poem)

Satchmo's warm burlap,
Duke's cool cashmere: fine fabrics
make your love "Come here!"


 (Read full poem)

14. Be Angry At San Pedro - written by Charles Bukowski
Read 1982 times on American Poems.

I say to my woman, "Jeffers was 
a great poet. think of a title
like Be Angry At The Sun. don't you 
realize how great that is?

"you like that negative stuff." she 
says

"positively," I agree, finishing my
drink and pouring another.
"in one of... (Read full poem)

There ain't NO-BO-DY
can dance like THAT,     'cept them twins
Jazzlene and Jazzphat.


 (Read full poem)

16. Franklin Jones - written by Edgar Lee Masters
Read 533 times on American Poems.

If I could have lived another year
I could have finished my flying machine,
And become rich and famous.
Hence it is fitting the workman
Who tried to chisel a dove for me
Made it look more like a chicken.
For what is it all but being... (Read full poem)

"Love Supreme,"  JA-A-Z train,
tops.     prompt lightning-express,     but
made ALL     local    stops.


 (Read full poem)

18. Charlie "Bird" Parker - written by James A. Emanuel
From Jazz From the Haiku King. Published in 1999. Read 2038 times on American Poems.

Once Ugly Duckling,
rich plumage grew.   Poised,     Bird flew.
Flocks followed.      Me too.


 (Read full poem)

Lid's on, steam's risin':
collard greens, Lord, bubblin' JAZZ!
That's      appetizin'.


 (Read full poem)

20. Will there really be a "Morning"? - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 8519 times on American Poems.

Will there really be a "Morning"?
Is there such a thing as "Day"?
Could I see it from the mountains
If I were as tall as they?

Has it feet like Water lilies?
Has it feathers like a Bird?
Is it brought from famous countries
Of which I have never... (Read full poem)

Silence is a great blue bell
Swinging and ringing, tinkling and singing, 
In measure's pleasure, and in the supple symmetry
                of the soaring of the immense intense wings
                glinting against
All the blue radiance above us... (Read full poem)

22. Happiness - written by Carl Sandburg
From Chicago Poems. Published in 1912. Read 15403 times on American Poems.

I ASKED the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell
me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I was trying to fool with them
And... (Read full poem)

They let me in. I went right up to the nursery 
and climbed into the crib, and assumed the famous 
fetal position.

They didn't know what to make of it. They stood 
by the crib looking down at me.

They were young. This was their house. Instead 
of... (Read full poem)

24. Soup - written by Carl Sandburg
From Smoke and Steel. Published in 1922. Read 2944 times on American Poems.

I SAW a famous man eating soup.
I say he was lifting a fat broth
Into his mouth with a spoon.
His name was in the newspapers that day
Spelled out in tall black headlines
And thousands of people were talking about him.
  
  When I saw him,
He sat... (Read full poem)

Stairstep music: ups,
downs, Bill Robinson smiling,
jazzdancing the rounds.

She raised champagne lips,
danced inside banana hips.
All Paris wooed      Jo.

Banana panties,
perfumed belt, Jazz tatooing
lush ecstasies... (Read full poem)