INTRODUCTION Poets don't just think about America. They harbor dreams, preserve the past, reflect tomorrows by seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, hearing-wrapping their arms around the country-with their words. I travel extensively throughout the United States, talking with teachers, librarians, professors, parents, and children to read poetry. Whether we meet midst a bustling city, on a rich, sowed farmland, or in the smallest of villages close to somewhere yet far from anywhere, we are all Americans and we all share a love of poetry that makes our hearts beat- that joins us together as one. My America depicts our always forever-changing land. Through poets' voices our senses are stirred, shaken, awakened to witness the various regions that make up our great United States. Our nation is so exciting, so multifaceted, as are poets who hail from every walk of life-who sing of cities where we "sprawl-in, sit-tall-in," areas where "wheat whirls with joyful wind," where a "mail boat chugs to the Cranberry Islands" of Maine. Poets reveal the diversity of our nation's people, too-a Kansas boy who never saw the sea, a Native American child singing a lullaby to his little brother, a farmer and his wife talking things over together. Poets praise our country's natural wonders-the Grand Canyon, the Everglades, the mighty Mississippi River-as well as tucked away, remote places like a California ghost town, "a village / where lighted streets were few," an ice mountain "hurled/Down this unfinished world." Poets also voice the ordinary-a pebble pocketed from a farm, ripening wheat, lazy ants. My America, divided into eight sections, one for each unique region, captures the breadth, depth, and character of the United States. Prefacing each section are fascinating facts about each state and the Capital. Twenty new commissioned works appear along with a host of beloved poets-including Langston Hughes, X. J. Kennedy, David McCord, and Carl Sandburg-to bring the United States into a distinctive focus. Stephen Alcorn's powerful paintings add further dimension, interpreting the works with brilliant design, color, and composition. My America pays a fitting tribute to our nation. Journey through our incredible country-from the coast of Maine to the Hawaiian Islands. It's a trip you'll want to take over and over again. -Lee Bennett Hopkins

ISBN: 0439372909