Tag Archives: Rita Dove

The Chaotic Joys of a Family Reunion

By Robin Bates | Published: December 28, 2022

As our family gathers for a post-
Christmas reunion, I find some of the joyous chaos captured in a Rita Dove poem.

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No Flowers, No Leaves, November

By Robin Bates | Published: November 7, 2021

An antidote to feeling gloomy in November is to embrace the gloom by reading gloomy November poems. I offer several here.

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Feeding on Beauty in the Midst of Horror

By Robin Bates | Published: May 4, 2020

If music sustained camp prisoners during the Holocaust, as Rita Dove describes in this poem, the arts can sustain us during our current pandemic.

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Poetry as a Check against Tyranny

By Robin Bates | Published: February 6, 2017

African American poet Rita Dove talks about the importance of poetry in resisting tyranny, especially its attack on language. In “American Smooth,” she expresses a foundational optimism about America.

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