One Page Poetry Circle Archive

Welcome to the One Page Poetry Circle!

Date: September 22, 2026
Theme: Poetry and Money
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Place: St. Agnes Branch Library, 444 Amsterdam Ave, 3rd fl. Or by email (see addresses below)

Find a poem! Show up! Or send a poem by email!

We're back for the 19th fall season of the One Page Poetry Circle where people examine the works of established poets. While there is no instructor and this is not a workshop for personal writing, once a month OPPC gives everyone a place to become teachers and learners to explore the form, content, language and meaning of poetry. Since the circle began, participants have selected and discussed 1850 poems and have read countless others in pursuit of poetry that speaks to them.

GOOD NEWS:
The One Page Poetry Circle has returned to the St. Agnes Library.
In addition, for those who are unable to attend, you will still be able to participate by email.

We open the fall 2026 season of the One Page Poetry Circle with the theme of Money, a word on everyone's mind lately. Money, like poetry, is rarely concrete. To some it has intrinsic value, to others a promise of value through a string of keystrokes on a computer screen.

Abigail admires W. H. Auden's take on the transactional qualities of money and love in his "Letter to Byron," where Auden comments on the history of literature and describes Jane Austen, generally considered prudish, as more shocking than James Joyce whose work had been banned:

• You could not shock her more than she shocks me;
• Beside her Joyce seems innocent as grass.
• It makes me most uncomfortable to see
• An English spinster of the middle-class
• Describe the amorous effects of 'brass',
• Reveal so frankly and with such sobriety
• The economic basis of society.

AnnaLee is intrigued by Howard Nemerov's "Money" written as if it were a lecture. The author points out an aspect shared by both poetry and money:

• This morning we shall spend a few minutes
• Upon the study of symbolism, which is basic
• To the nature of money. I show you this nickel.
• Icons and cryptograms are written all over
• The nickel: one side shows a hunchbacked bison
• Bending his head and curling his tail to accommodate
• The circular nature of money.

If you can make the September 22nd meeting, we ask that you bring a poem with you on the theme of Poetry and Money, with copies for others if you can.

If you're unable to attend, send us the poem you've selected with a comment on why you chose it. We'll share the poems with you in person, by email, and through our blog.

Whether a poem concerns money, uses the idea of money, or suggests money to you, pick a poem that has meaning to you. Having trouble finding a poem on the subject? Check out Poetry Foundation or poets.org.

In the meantime, please blog with us at onepagepoetrycircle.wordpress.com.

Fall 2026 Schedule
September 22: Poetry and Money
October 20: Poetry and Repair
November 17: Poetry and the Home
December 15: Poetry and an Ending

Abigail Burnham Bloom, abigailburnhambloom(at)gmail(dot)com
AnnaLee Wilson, annalee(at)kaeserwilson(dot)com

The One Page Poetry Circle is sponsored by the New York Public Library and is open to all.
St. Agnes Branch Library is handicap accessible.