See the Granger's Guided Tour here.

Our 2026 high school poetry contest winners have been selected. See winning poems here.

See our Compare Poems tool with examples of reading poems side-by-side.

Quick Search:

Carl Phillips

Carl Philips was born on July 23, 1959, into a military family in Everett, Washington. His father’s job in the Air Force kept the family moving within the U.S. during his childhood. In his high-school years the family

Brothers in Arms

by Carl Phillips (b. 1959)

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<author>
3  <person id="21838" sex="1" role="author">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>Carl</firstname>
6      <lastname>Phillips</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1959</date>
10      <text-value>(b. 1959)</text-value>
11    </life-events>
12    <biography>y</biography>
13  </person>
14</author>
15

The sea was one thing, once; the field another. Either way,
something got crossed, or didn’t. Who’s to say, about
happiness? Whatever country, I mean, where inconceivable
was a word like any other lies far behind me now. I’ve
learned to spare what’s failing, if it can keep what’s living
alive still, maybe just
                                  awhile longer. Ghost bamboo that
the birds nest in, for example, not noticing the leaves, color
of surrender, color of poverty as I used to imagine it when

Click here for complete poem