Poem of the Day
Yellow Striped Pajamas
By Shamsher Bahadur Singh
walking silently on his paws, he emerges from the semidarkness and disappears into it.
Poetry: 2000s
Pomework: An Exercise in Occasional Poetry
By A. R. Ammons
of cloud dispute
the sky of late afternoon,
the going sun suspended
Occasional Poetry and Poetry on Occasions
By Robert Pinsky
What does it mean that so many distinguished and gifted poets responded to the somewhat goofy games and assignments suggested by The Paris Review for this issue? Not just willingly, but with spirit, they have composed poems to strange titles like "An Empty Surfboard on a Flat Sea" and "Lavatory in a Cathedral," written commentaries on worksheets—written, in other words, to suit the occasion.