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Former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera shares poems that consider the questions, what exactly is poetry? What does it do? Herrera crafts an expansive answer to these questions through Marvin Bell\\u2019s reflection on poetry as philosophy (\\u201cThe Poem\\u201d), Denise Levertov\\u2019s engagement with truth in sacred spaces (\\u201cThe Day the Audience Walked Out on Me, and Why\\u201d), and Lorna Dee Cervantes\\u2019s assertion that poetry is the force and form of resistance (\\u201cFrom the Bus to E.L. at Atascadero State Hospital\\u201d). To close, Herrera shares his poem \\u201cFor George Floyd, Who Was a Great Man,\\u201d a work that encapsulates humanity, compassion, action, and protest.
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\\xa0You can listen to the full recordings of Bell, Levertov, and Cervantes reading for the Poetry Center on Voca:
Marvin Bell (1977)
Denise Levertov (1973)
Lorna Dee Cervantes (1991)

You can also enjoy two recordings of Juan Felipe Herrera on Voca, from 1993 and 2009.

Have you checked out the new Voca interface? It\\u2019s easier than ever to browse readings, and individual tracks can be shared. Many readings now include captions and transcripts, and we're working hard to make sure every reading will have these soon.