poets & poems n-z

Poets are added to this index as their mindfulness poems are prepared for posting. Whenever possible, poet names are linked to their own websites or other significant resources about their work. The titles of their poems are linked to the texts posted on this site and listed in order of appearance. A title link becomes "live" upon the poem's publication.

This page lists those poets whose last names begin with N-Z. Click here for the A-M listing.

We regret not having the resources to seek permissions from the copyright holders to reproduce the poems that appear on A Year of Being Here. It is our hope that by giving full credit to the poets, citing bibliographic sources and linking to webpages about these wordsmiths and their work, more good is done than harm. We are grateful to the poets and their publishers for their forbearance.


NELSON, Marilyn. "Bali Hai Calls Mama," "Dusting," "The Lace-Maker."   
NELSON, Portia. "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters." 
NEMEROV, Howard. "Trees."  
NEPO, Mark. "Where Is God?", "The Appointment," "Behind the Thunder."
NERUDA, Pablo. "Sonnet XVII," "Keeping Still," "Ode to Enchanted Light."     
NEWCOMER, Carrie. "Every Little Bit of It."   
NGHIEM, Sr. Dang. "Feather at Midday." 
NGUYEN PHAN, Que Mai. "The Poem I Can't Yet Name."
NOLAN, Tim. "Thanksgiving."  
NORRIS, Kathleen. "Imperatives."   
NORDHAUS, Jean. "I Was Always Leaving."  
NOSTRAND, Jenifer. "Magic."    
NYE, Naomi Shihab.  

• "Fresh," "The Traveling Onion," "Observer," "The Tray," "Breaking the Fast," "Sifter," "Kindness," "Gate A-4" [Prose Poem], "Missing the Boat," "Daily," "Words When We Need Them," "At the Seven-Mile Ranch, Comstock, Texas," "Trying to Name What Doesn't Change," "Adios."   

O'CONNELL, Linda R. "Mindfulness."
O'CONNOR, Mary. 

• "Standing Up in the Boat," "Good Days," "These Days My Music."    

O'DONOHUE, John.  

• "Beannacht," "For the Senses," "For Love in a Time of Conflict," "The Inner History of a Day," "For the Artist at the Start of Day," "For the Traveler," "Fluent," "A Morning Offering," "For Grief."          

O'HARA, Frank. "Poem."  
OLDS, Sharon. "Looking at Them Asleep."
OLIVER, Mary.  

• "Mornings at Blackwater," "I Worried," "Messenger," "August," "Praying," "Fall Song," "Winter and the Nuthatch," "The Sun," "Heavy," "The Loon," "Mysteries, Yes," "Fall Song," "The Other Kingdoms," "Straight Talk from Fox," "The Fist," "Song of the Builders," "The Faces of Deer," "To Begin With, the Sweet Grass," "I Have Decided," "Wild Geese," "Clam."   

O'NEIL, January Gill. "How to Make a Crab Cake."
ORR, Gregory.  

• "Has the Moon Been Up There," Untitled ["This Is What Was Bequeathed Us"],  Untitled ["If to say it once"], Untitled ["Let's remake the world with words"], Untitled ["If deepest grief is hell"], Untitled ["Grief will come to you"].   

OSTRIKER, Alicia. "Dear God."  

OSTROM, Hans. "Mum Is the Word."   
PACKA, Sheila. "Not Forgotten."   
PADDOCK, Joe. "One's Ship Comes In."  
PADDOCK, Nancy. "Lie Down."    
PADGETT, Ron. "Inaction of Shoes."   
PAGNUCCI, Franco. "All Day."   
P'ANG, Layman. "When the Mind Is at Peace."  
PASTAN, Linda.  

• "In This Season of Waiting," "Things I Didn't Know I Loved: After Nazim Hikmet," "Possibilities," "April."    

PATCHEN, Kenneth. "At the New Year."  
PAZ, Octavio.  

• "Between Going and Staying," "Wind, Water, Stone," "Friendship," "Brotherhood."     

PEDERSON, Miriam. "What Is Our Deepest Desire?", "Listening to Scrabble."    
PENNA, Nick. "Waiting in Line." 
PEREIRA, Peter. "A Pot of Red Lentils."   
PERETTI, Marilyn. "Stepping Lightly."   
PERSONS, Alice N. "The Perfect Day." 
PETERSEN, Paulann. "Appetite." 
PIERCY, Marge. 

• "The Tao of Touch," "Rising in Perilous Hope," "To Have Without Holding," "The Art of Blessing the Day," "A Just Anger."      

PIIRTO, Jane. "Tomorrow, Today, and Yesterday."
PILOLLA, Ed. "Favorite Mug."  
PO, Li. "Zazen on Ching-t'ing Mountain."   
PONSOT, Marie. "Out of Water." 
PORTER, Anne. "Getting Up Early," "Looking at the Sky," "Living Things."    
POTOS, Andrea. "Praise Your Life."   
POUND, Ezra. "The Tree."
POWELL, Lynn. "Acceptance Speech."  
PRATT, Katie. "Beyond Words."  
PSALMIST, The. "Psalm 1."
PUGH, Sheenagh. "What If This Road."   
RAINE, Kathleen. "I Believe Nothing."   
RAS, Barbara. "You Can't Have It All."   
RATHBURN, Chelsea. "A Raft of Grief."   
RAY, David. "Thanks, Robert Frost," "Doing Without."   
RÉA, Rashani. "The Unbroken."
REIF, Max. 

• "Still Point," "To a Visionary Whose Name I'll Never Know," "Hitch-Hiker."   

REPOSA, Carol Coffee. "Vegetable Love in Texas."   
REVERDY, Pierre. "For the Moment."  
RICCIO, Dolores Stewart. "Outside," "At the Winter Solstice."   
RIDL, Jack. "Take Love for Granted," "The Neighbors."   
RILKE, Rainer Maria. 

• "I, 1," "A Walk," "Part One, Sonnet IV" ["You Who Let Yourselves Feel: Enter the Breathing"], Untitled ["I Love the Dark Hours of My Being"], "II, 29" ["Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower"], "Part Two, X" ["The Machine endangers all we have made"], "Departure of the Prodigal Son," "I, 12" ["I believe in all that has never been spoken"], "Part Two, XII" ["Want the change"], "It's possible."      

RÍOS, Alberto. "Who Has Need, I Stand with You," "A Yellow Leaf."  
RITCH, Charlie. "The Importance of Symmetry."    
RIVIERE-SEEL, Pat. "Prayer for a Field Mouse."  
ROBERTS, Jeannie E. "Attend Your Bounty."  
ROETHKE, Theodore. 

• "The Chair," "The Waking," "A Light Breather," "Once More, the Round." 

ROMOND, Edwin. "In Asbury Park, NJ." 
ROOKE, Susan. "A Marriage in the Hands."   
ROSENBLOOM, Robert. "Breakfront."
ROSS, Arra Lynn. "Mother Ann Tells Lucy What Gave Her Joy."   
ROSS, Cathy. "If the Moon Came Out Only Once a Month." 
ROSSER, J. Allyn. "Then Too There Is This." 
ROYSTON, Rosemary. "Why You Should Go Outside at 4:40 am in November."   
RUEFLE, Mary. "Keeping It Simple."  
RUKEYSER, Muriel. 

• "A Little Stone in the Middle of the Road, in Florida," "Poem White Page White Page Poem," "Islands," "Poem."    

RUMI, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad.

• "The Guesthouse," "Birdwings," "That Lives in Us," "The Jar with the Dry Rim," "Begin," Untitled ["Today Like Every Other Day"], "What Was Told, That," "Eyes-Shut Facing Eyes-Rolling-Around," Untitled ["Look at love"], "You Are the Only Student You Have," "In Every Breath," "A Community of Spirit," "Zero Circle," Untitled ["Thanksgiving is sweeter than bounty itself"], Untitled ["The clear bead at the center changes everything"].             

RUNNELS, Peg. "I Want My Grief."  
RUSHIN, Kate. "The Bridge Poem."
RYAN, Kay. "Stardust," "Why We Must Struggle," "New Rooms."   
RYOKAN. Untitled ["Before listening to the way"].  
SAISER, Marjorie. "The Muse Is a Little Girl."  
SAKAKI, Nanao. "Just Enough."
SALINAS, Pedro. "Wake Up. Day Calls You."
SALWAY, Sarah. "You Do Not Need Another Self-Help Book."   
SANCHEZ, Sonia. Untitled (from Morning Haiku).  
SANDBURG, Carl. "Good Night," "Autumn Movement."    
SANDERS, Kay N. "Bath, in House Alone," "How to Let Go of a Kite."
SANDERS, Mark. "The Cranes, Texas January."  
SARAH, Robyn.

• "On Closing the Apartment of My Grandparents of Blessed Memory," "Burning the Journals," "Zero Holding," "An Early Start in Midwinter."

SARTON, May. 

• "New Year Resolve," "Snow Fall," "Now I Become Myself," "Now Voyager," "December Moon," "A Glass of Water," "An Observation," "Christmas Light," "Beyond the Question, 1," "The Work of Happiness."

SCHAEFER, Nancy Ann. "Ahimsa."   
SCHIFFMAN, Richard.  

• "Watching the Birdwatcher," "Moth Koan," "Smart Cookie," "Hope (A Zen Perspective," "Before Language," "Gray Scale," "Late March."   

SCHIPPERS, K. (Gerard Stigter). "Black." 
SCHNEIDER, Pat. "The Patience of Ordinary Things," "Lessons."
SCHOENFELD, Ellie. "Patriotism."
SCHUG, Larry.  

• "Mending Mittens," "Threading the Needle," "A Lesson in Mindfulness," "Crab Apple Trees," "A Minor Death in Indigo."    

SCHWARTZ, Lynne Sharon. "Repotting."
SCHWARTZ, Ruth L. 

• "Tangerine," "Music for Guitar and Stone," "Important Thing," "I had been sad for so long that it shocked me," "Versions of Ghalib: Ghazal I" ["Everything sings, in each moment"].

SEARS, Peter. "Night Fishing."  
SEEGER, Pete. "To My Old Brown Earth."   
SEXTON, Anne. "Welcome Morning," "Words," "From the Garden."    
SHAFFER, Nancy. 

•  "Because We Spill Not Only Milk," "Calling," "This Making of a Whole Self."    

SHAPIRO, Harvey. "July," "Psalm." 
SHAW, Luci. "Revival."  
SHIKIBU,  Izumi. Untitled ["Although the Wind"].  
SHINDER, Jason. "Alone for the Fifth Day," "Coda."   
SHUMATE, David. "Shooting the Horse."  
SIEVERS, Tere. "July Rain," "These Things a Prayer," "Hear the Water's Music." 
SIMIC, Charles. "Miracle Glass Co."
SLAUGHTER, William. "Laozi in Indiana."  
SMITH, Larry. "In Early Spring," "Walking a Field into Evening."  
SMITH, R. T. "Hardware Sparrows," "Moth Aubade."    
SMITH, Thomas R. "Baby Wrens' Voices," "Trust."     
SMITHER, Elizabeth. "The Sea Question."  
SNYDER, Gary.  

• "Prayer for the Great Family," "What Have I Learned," "Pine Tree Tops," "For All."  

SMOCK, Frederick. "Moon." 
SÖDERGRAN, Edith. "Forest Lake."
SO-IN, Nishiyama. Untitled ["Settling, white dew"].   
SONG, Kitlinuharmiut. Untitled ["And I Think Over Again"]. 
SONDHEIM, Stephen. "Children Will Listen."   
SORESCU, Marin. "Descent."   
SORESTAD, Glen. "Making a Salad."   
SPACKS, Barry. "What Breathes Us," "Within Another Life."   
SPIRES, Elizabeth. "Zen Sonnet."   
SPRACKLAND, Martha. "Refugees."  
STAFFORD, William. 

• "You Reading This, Be Ready," "Just Thinking," "For My Young Friends Who Are Afraid," "Why I Am Happy," "An Afternoon in the Stacks," "Security," "Next Time," "Cutting Loose," "Little Rooms," "Listening," "The Gift," "Today," "Being a Person," "Any Morning," "Adrift," "How to Regain Your Soul," "Allegiances," "Good Room," "A Message from Space," "Earth Dweller."                

STEIN, Maya. "Alliance." 

STEPANEK, Mattie J. T.  "About Living (Part III)."  
STEPHENSON, Hannah.  

• "First Things First," "Surf and Turf," "Everything Is a Clock," "The Student," "I Could Care Less," "The Toy Is the Box," "Ancient Language."          

STEVENS, Wallace. "The Snowman."
STEWART (RICCHIO), Dolores. "Outside," "At the Winter Solstice."    
STONE, John. "Whittling: The Last Class." 
STONE, Ron. "Attention," "Memo to Self Re: Meditation."   
STONE, Ruth. "Green Apples."  
STRAND, Mark. 

• "Lines for Winter," "My Name," Untitled ["A jouney continues"], "For Jessica, My Daughter," "The Night, the Porch."    

STRICKER, Meredith. "The End of the World."   
STUDDARD, Melissa. "I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast."   
SULLIVAN, David Allen. "Permission Granted."  
SUMRALL, Amber Coverdale. "Fifty Robins."    
SUTPHEN, Joyce.  

• "From Out the Cave," "The Last Things I'll Remember," "The Book of Hours," "How to Listen," "Seeing, Up Close Again."       

SVENVOLD, Mark. "Relearning Winter."   
SWEENEY, Jennifer K. "In Flight."  
SWENSON, May. "Staying at Ed's Place." 
SWIR (Świrszczyńska), Anna. "Priceless Gifts," "I Talk to My Body."   
SZE, Arthur. "Frost," "The Unnamable River."
SZUBER, Janusz. "About a Boy Stirring Jam."
SZYMBORSKA, Wislawa. 

• "Miracle Fair," "No Title Required," "A Note," "Under One Small Star."     

TAGLIABUE, John. "The Bare Arms of Trees."   
TAGORE, Rabindranath. "Playthings."  
TARN, Nathaniel. "Before the Snake." 
TAYLOR, Bruce. "Gardening as a Form of Worship."   
TAYLOR, Richard. "Wild Turkeys." 
TEASDALE, Sara. "September Midnight," "Morning," "May Day."  
TERRIS, Susan. "Matin and Vesper."   
THÉNON, Susan. "Nuptial Song."   
THOMAS, Edward. "After Rain," "The Owl."   
THOMAS, R. S. "The Other," "The Bright Field."  
THOMPSON, Clarice. "Morning in December."   
THOMPSON, Sue Ellen. "Leaning In."    
THURMAN, Howard. "In a Time of Sorrow."  
THURSTON-SHAINE, Marci. "More Good News."
TING, Shu (Gong Peiyu). "Perhaps..."   
TRANSTRÖMER, Tomas. "Allegro," "Romanesque Arches."        
TREMLETT, Sarah. "From the Rivers to the Sea." 
TROMMER, Rosemerry Wahtola.  

• "Action Plan," "Before We Can Unlearn," "Guilty Bystander," "Treasure Hunt in the Woods," "The Way It Is," "Perhaps It Would Eventually Erode, But ... "

TUCKER, David. "The Day Off."  
TZU, Chuang. "Poem of the Woodcarver."
TZU, Lao. 

•  "47" ["There is no need to run outside"], "The uses of not" (Book One, Chapter 11), "We Are a River."    

UNAMUNO, Miguel de. "Throw Yourself Like Seed."  
UNGAR, Lynn. "Boundaries," "Camas Lilies," "Passover."     
UYEMATSU, Amy. "Tea." 
VAN WALLEGHEN, Michael. "The Long Continuous Line," "Happiness."
VARGAS, Richard. "why i feed the birds."   
VEGA, Janine Pommy.  "Which Side Are You On?"       
WAGONER, David.  

• "Old Man, Old Man," "Lost,""Getting There," "The Silence of the Stars," "The Lessons of Water." 

WALCOTT, Derek. "Love After Love."

WALFRIDSSON, Kjell.  "Restricted Living."   
WALKER, Alice. 

• "While Love Is Unfashionable," "Expect Nothing," "I Will Keep Broken Things," "Before I Leave the Stage."      

WALLER, Rhoda Neshama. "Spring Comes to Maine."  
WALTERS, Dorothy. "Taken," "Don't Make Lists."
WANG Wei. "Walking in Mountains in the Rain."  
WATERS, Michael. "The Inarticulate." 
WATERSTON, Ellen. "Designed to Fly."   
WATTS, David. "Fragment at the Beginning of Something..."  
WEHRMAN, Richard. "When I Fell into the World."   
WEIGL, Bruce. "Home."  
WELDON, Laura Grace. "Forgetting Names," "Rutabaga."  
WENDT, Ingrid. "Give Us This Day."  
WHITEMAN, Roberta Hill. "Waterfall at Como Park." 
WHITMAN, Walt. 

• "O Me! O Life!," "A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim."    

WHYTE, David. 

• "What to Remember When Waking," "Everything Is Waiting for You," "Sometimes," "The Winter of Listening," "The Opening of Eyes," "Sweet Darkness."        

WILCOX, Ella Wheeler. "Seeking for Happiness."   
WILDE, Oscar. "Magdalen Walks."   
WILDSMITH, Dana. "Evening Song with Max."    
WILLIAMS, C. K. "Droplets," "Clay Out of Silence."    
WILLIAMS, Miller. "Compassion." 
WILLIAMS, William Carlos. "Nantucket," "To a Poor Old Woman," "Thursday."
WILLITTS, Martin, Jr. 

• "When everything that ticked—has stopped," "When Stillness Is Heard."

WILSON, Ruby R. "Birthday Sunrise." 
WOOD, Nancy. Untitled ["Earth teach me stillness"].  
WOOD, Susan. "Daily Life."
WRIGHT, Franz. "Parting Word."  
WRIGHT, James. 

• "Today I Was So Happy, So I Made This Poem," "Depressed by a Book of Bad Poetry, I Walk Toward an Unused Pasture and Invite the Insects to Join Me."

WRIGLEY, Robert. "Kissing a Horse" (not archived, at the request of the poet).
WU-MEN. "Ten Thousand Flowers in Spring."
YINGLING, Nura. "Step Six and Step Seven."   
YOSHIRO, Ishihara. "Wheat."  
YOST, Dana. "The Three Bridges Trail," "A New Approach."    
YOUNG, Al. "For Poets." 
YOUSSEF, Saadi. "Attention."   
YUAN, Changming. "Bird vs. Sea."  
ZAGAJEWSKI, Adam. "On Swimming," "Try to Praise the Mutilated World."  
ZAHRAD (Zareh Yaldizciyan). "Cleaning Lentils."
ZARZANA, Marianne Murphy.  

• "Saying Our Names," "Savasana: Corpse Pose," "The News in Southwest Minnesota."   

ZEIGER, Genie. "The Hike."   
ZELDA (Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky). "Each of Us Has A Name." 
ZOLYNAS, Al. 

• "The Zen of Housework," "Postcard from Home," "Waiting for the Present," "Love in the Classroom."  

ZWICKY, Jan. "Recovery."