Some of the poets included in this anthology: Theocritus, Edmund Spenser, Edward Lear, Robert Browning, Thomas Hardy, John Donne, Philip Larkin, Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, Rossetti, Shelley and Kipling...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Based on his wildly popular New Yorker piece, Thurber Prize-winner John Kenney presents a hilarious collection of love poems for, well, married people. Full of brilliant wit, dynamic energy, and a heavy dose of reality, Love Poems for Married People takes the poetic form, turns it upside down and leaves it in the dishwasher to dry. Inspired by one of the most shared New Yorker pieces of all time, this collection captures the reality of life once the spark of a relationship has settled--and hilariously so. With brand new pieces that cover all areas of married life, from parental gripes to dwindling sex lives, Kenney's wry observations and sharp humor remind us exactly what it's like to spend the rest of your life with the person you love. I was almost feeling fondness for you As you gave me a shoulder massage at the sink-- What a small, lovely surprise. And then you grabbed my boobs and made a "wha-wha" noise. In an instant, I felt disgust and sadness and regret.

This critically acclaimed sonnet sequence is the passionately intense story of a love affair between two women, from the electricity of their first acquaintance to the experience of their parting.

Poems can teach us in ways that surpass other forms of understanding, especially when the subject concerns matters of the heart. When the heart’s whispers are too faint for us to hear in ordinary ways, poetry can speak to us with another kind of eloquence. From the leap of joy that a couple takes on their wedding day to a fiftieth wedding anniversary that acknowledges the deep connection that a life together can bring, marriage takes us on a journey that passes through seasons and stages, peaks and valleys. This book honors that journey through twenty poems that celebrate and illuminate some of these major stages and provides not only inspiration for the journey but also solace and wisdom. Roger Housden, the author of Ten Poems to Change Your Life, provides essential insights into the poems, creating a collection of reflective prose and poetry that makes this an inspirational guidebook as much as a volume of poetry. In Twenty Poems to Bless Your Marriage, Roger Housden offers poems and essays that will give voice to your heart, offering up words and wisdom not just for special occasions but to act as friends and guides to refer to throughout the life of a marriage.

“These tender, sly, plainspoken poems are a profound (and sexy) hymn to a long marriage.” —Chase Twichell, author of Things As It Is Writing love poems fifty years into a marriage is no easy task: “If he exaggerates his love, she’ll know . . . And if his desire for her is undiminished, / who would believe?” But in A Marriage Book, James P. Lenfestey meets his own challenge with aplomb. These poems drop readers into the rich, textured world of one couple’s enduring intimacy, from the warmth of a bedroom occupied by two to squabbles over miscommunications and crumbs in the kitchen. As the marriage (and the poems) transition into parenthood, Lenfestey illuminates the equally stalwart wonder of observing one’s children as they age and develop. Paternal love persists, and is even fed by, watching his children argue, suffer their own mistakes, and roar horrible breath at breakfast. A Marriage Book is a collection that essences the magic from the household quotidian, creating a technicolor portrait of a durable, long-lasting love and a vibrant, dynamic family. “James Lenfestey, after a lifetime of attentive writing, has lately done poems for family and marriage that put most of us to shame.” —Gary Snyder, TheNew York Times Book Review

Offering inspiration to all, one man's philosophy of life and truth, considered one of the classics of our time.

Poems deal with intimacy, memories, dreams, spring, mortality, jealousy, and shared lives.