{"id":144,"date":"2026-06-01T10:09:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T10:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144"},"modified":"2026-06-01T10:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T10:09:24","slug":"three-poems-to-get-you-through-the-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144","title":{"rendered":"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<div>\n<article>\n<header>\n<div>\n<ul><li>Culture<\/li><li>Books &amp; the Arts<\/li><li>September 3, 2014<\/li><\/ul><h1>Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought<\/h1><h1>Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought<\/h1><h2>\u201cOutside, the ground separates, \/ breaking open like sores\u2026\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<time>September 3, 2014<\/time>\n<div>\n<p><em>While reading through <\/em>The Nation<em>\u2019s coverage of the droughts and dust bowls of the 1930s and 1950s\u2014antecedents of the current spell afflicting the American West\u2014I came across three poems published in our pages under the same stark title: \u201cDrought.\u201d The first is from 1964; the other two are both from 1977. Biographical notes on their authors follow the texts.<\/em>\n<p>* * *\n<p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-141\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/682dd3c2fea4dbcaa40e515366c21585.jpg\" width=\"348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/682dd3c2fea4dbcaa40e515366c21585.jpg 348w, https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/682dd3c2fea4dbcaa40e515366c21585-160x300.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 348px) 100vw, 348px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p><em>Allen Planz was a poet and commercial fisherman who died in 2010. His most well-known book was perhaps <\/em>A Night for Rioting <em>(1969). The late Peter Matthiesson praised Planz as \u201cthe best poet of the sea that we have.\u201d<\/em>\n<p>* * *\n<p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-142\" height=\"787\" src=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/372dde44f3a517976345df0e76f6e15b.jpg\" width=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/372dde44f3a517976345df0e76f6e15b.jpg 290w, https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/372dde44f3a517976345df0e76f6e15b-111x300.jpg 111w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p>Keith Bosley, born in 1937, is a British poet and an accomplished translator, especially of Finnish works such as <em>The Kalevala<\/em>.\n<p>* * *\n<p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-143\" height=\"610\" src=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/17dc989bc71aa658c4167fd7a2cfb1f5.jpg\" width=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/17dc989bc71aa658c4167fd7a2cfb1f5.jpg 361w, https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/17dc989bc71aa658c4167fd7a2cfb1f5-178x300.jpg 178w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=137\">The GOP Is Not a Political Party\u2014It\u2019s a Cult<\/a><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=139\">The Palestinian Authority Is Being Strangled to Death<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<footer>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\n                Submit a correction\n            \n<\/li>\n<li>\n\n                Send a letter to the editor\n            \n<\/li>\n<li>\n\n                Reprints &amp; permissions\n            \n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<p><span> Richard Kreitner<svg>\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>Richard Kreitner is a contributing writer and the author of <em>Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America\u2019s Imperfect Union<\/em>. His writings are at richardkreitner.com.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=135\">January 8, 1867: Emily Balch, Nation Staffer and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Is Born<\/a><\/p><br\/><p><span> Back Issues<\/span>Guided tours through the archive of America\u2019s oldest weekly.\r\n<\/p><br\/>\n<\/div>\n<input\/>\n<input\/>\n<\/footer>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\nAd Policy\n<!-- <a class=\"inifiniteLoader\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/new_infi_loader.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a> -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nation Magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought - Atlas Living Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought - Atlas Living Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Nation Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Atlas Living Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-01T10:09:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/682dd3c2fea4dbcaa40e515366c21585.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"348\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc\"},\"headline\":\"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T10:09:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144\"},\"wordCount\":250,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144\",\"name\":\"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought - Atlas Living Media\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T10:09:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":975},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=144#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Atlas Living Media\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought - Atlas Living Media","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought - Atlas Living Media","og_description":"The Nation Magazine","og_url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144","og_site_name":"Atlas Living Media","article_published_time":"2026-06-01T10:09:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":348,"height":653,"url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/682dd3c2fea4dbcaa40e515366c21585.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc"},"headline":"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought","datePublished":"2026-06-01T10:09:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144"},"wordCount":250,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144","url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144","name":"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought - Atlas Living Media","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-01T10:09:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/25783fd54e4352f95c5858524942fc9c.jpg","width":1500,"height":975},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=144#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Three Poems to Get You Through the Drought"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/","name":"Atlas Living Media","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com"],"url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}