Charles Simic, Michael S. Harper, Frank Bidart, Robert Pinsky, and Robert Hass Summary

Charles Simic was born in Yugoslavia and is haunted by memories of war-torn Europe. He emigrated with his family in 1949 to the U.S. He joined the army and later graduated from New York University. He has worked as a teacher. His deceptively simple poems pay close attention to objects, his dream images, and mental traps. His poems create a dark world of magic and chance. He uses surreal juxtapositions to place the fabulous next to the familiar. The poems included in his section are "Tapestry," "My Shoes," "Concerning My Neighbors, the Hittites," "Watermelons," "Eyes Fastened with Pins," "Empire of Dreams," "Prodigy," and "From The World Doesn't End."

Michael S. Harper is an African American who is interested in history and...