In his bestselling Ten Poems series, Roger Housden has shown an uncanny ability to choose and discuss poems that strike at the core of readers' concerns and needs. In this new volume, ten extraordinary poems, along with Housden's incisive essays, bring heartfelt insight and broad perspective both to our personal challenges and to our cultural and collective malaise. Ten Poems for Difficult Times is the perfect gift for oneself or for anyone in need of solace and inspiration.
Ten Poems for Difficult Times
"Good Bones" by Maggie Smith
"The Thing Is" by Ellen Bass
"The Quarrel" by Conrad Aiken
"Cutting Loose" by William Stafford
"Rain Light" by W. S. Merwin
"How the Light Comes" by Jan Richardson
"Now You Know the Worst" by Wendell Berry
"A Brief for the Defense" by Jack Gilbert
"It's This Way" by Nazim Hikmet
"Annunciation" by Marie Howe A beautiful new addition to a bestselling poetry anthology series to guide readers in dark times, both personal and societal
"For years, I have carried Roger Housden's poetry collections with me wherever I go. This book comes just in time. The heart of the world is breaking, and these ten poems are a life-giving elixir."
- Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and God of Love
"I read Ten Poems for Difficult Times during a rough time in my own life, and the poems reminded me of essential truths that I forget and must remember many times a day. Roger Housden's selection of poems is excellent and wide-ranging, and he shares in a personal and accessible way what is most striking to him about each one. If you're having a difficult time, or know someone who is, you'll want to read and share these poems."
- Ellen Bass, award-winning poet and author of The Courage to Heal
"A truly remarkable achievement."
- Spirituality Today Roger Housden is the author of twenty-three books, including the bestselling Ten Poems series. His writing has been featured in many publications, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and O: The Oprah Magazine. A native of England, he lives in Marin County, California, and teaches around the world. Introduction: Why Poetry for Difficult Times?
Poetry is a concise and elemental means of expressing the deepest of human emotions: joy, sorrow, grief, hope, love and longing. This is why it connects us as a people and a community; it speaks for us and brings us together in a way few other forms of writing can do. I was in the process of moving to Manhattan in 2001, and in the weeks following 9/11 there were poems appearing on every available wall in the city. Even so, over the next ten years, while sitting alone in front of my computer finishing up another volume in my Ten Poems series, I would wonder at times whether I was wasting my time.
After all, the world is in trouble. It has always been in trouble. Not only that, but we are often in trouble personally too. Surely there must be something more useful, more pressing, to give my time to than reflecting on poetry? Couldn't I go and start a project in Africa, or at least do some small thing to prevent climate catastrophe; start reducing my own carbon footprint, for example, and begin a movement to encourage others to do the same? But no; I wrote more poetry books, wondering all the while whether they and I were doing little more than making ourselves progressively irrelevant.
I knew better, which is why I kept writing. I knew that great poetry has the power to start a fire in a person's life. It can alter the way we see ourselves. It can change the way we see the world. You may never have read a poem in your life, and yet you can pick up a volume, open it to any page, and suddenly find yourself blown into a world full of awe, dread, wonder, marvel, deep sorrow, and joy. Poetry not only matters; it is profoundly necessary. Especially in times of darkness and dif
