The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms by Eavan Boland was a great help to me in a poetry class at Stanford. I had a formal education in poetry in undergrad but this book was kind of a crash-course that covered almost all of those classes in one. I still reference it, now decades later. I also think about this poem that's in there a lot: > Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota > By James Wright > > Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly, > Asleep on the black trunk, > Blowing like a leaf in green shadow. > Down the ravine behind the empty house, > The cowbells follow one another > Into the distances of the afternoon. > To my right, > In a field of sunlight between two pines, > The droppings of last year’s horses > Blaze up into golden stones. > I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on. > A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home. > I have wasted my life.