I inherited many books from my older brothers—esoteric books from the 1970s on running and weightlifting, and Pietro di Donato’s classic novel Christ in Concrete, about an Italian immigrant family of laborers shattered by the death of their patriarch. But my favorite is Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke. It is a […]
Poetry
Posted inIdeas
Dylan Thomas was a difficult person. But ‘Fern Hill’ is a perfect poem.
To understand this poem, you don’t need biography. Your own personal understanding of the loss of innocence and the pain of mortality serve just as well.
Posted inPoetry
Our Epiphany
Because they left, they could arrive.
Because they searched, they could find.
Because they wandered, they discovered.
Posted inIdeas
My forty years of friendship with Thomas Merton
Can you be friends with a person who never knew you even existed? If the answer to these questions is yes, then I am friends with Thomas Merton.
Posted inPoetry
Poetry review: Lyric wonder, again and again
In this year’s poetry roundup, some of the poets whose collections we discuss are Catholic, some are not. But regardless of their religious commitments, wonder shows up in these poets’ work again and again.
Posted inBooks
Review: A new twist on a classic text
In their compelling new translation of the “Aeneid,” Scott McGill and Susannah Wright offer a dynamic, poignant and thought-provoking take on this classic poem.
Posted inFaith in Focus
How St. Ignatius’ Examen has shaped my poetry
As a poet, I often use the examen to remind myself to be fully present to what I’m experiencing, and to let those moments ferment and mature.
Posted inPoetry
Poem removed
Editors’ note, April 13, 2026: America has become aware that this poem was submitted with false information about its authorship. Accordingly, we have removed the text and the author’s profile.
Posted inFaith, The Good Word
We’re all playing make-believe—until we become ‘perfect in Christ’
A Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, by Father Terrance Klein