preiace
the school days of an indian girl
  gertrude bonnin (zitkala-sa)
america and l
  aazia yezierska
indian camp
  ernest hemingway
yet do i marvel
  countee cullen
justice denied in massachusetts
  edna st.vincent millay
design
  robert frost
america is in the heart
  carlos bulosan
my papa's waltz
  theodore boethke
i stand here ironing
  tillie olsen
digging for china
  richard wilbur
what were they like?
  denise levertov
america
  robert creeley
an name woman
  maxine hang kingston
what we talk about when we talk about love
  raymond carver
lullaby
  leslie marmon silko
poem far the young white man who asked me haw i.an intelligent, well-read person,
  could believe in the war between races
  lurna dee cervantes
i ask my mother to sing
  li-young lee
daystar
  rita dove
introduction to poetry
  billy collins
railroad standard time
  frank chin
poem about my rights
  june jordan
the testimony of light
  carolyn forche
appendix i  abbreviations
appendix ii  to the readers
acknowledgments
references