Poem of the Week: "Heart: Specimen" by Valerie Wohlfeld

The VPR Poem of the Week is Valerie Wohlfeld’s “Heart: Specimen,” which appeared in the Spring/Summer 2007 issue (Volume VIII, Number 2) of Valparaiso Poetry Review.

Valerie Wohlfeld’s book of poetry, Thinking the World Visible (1994), was chosen for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Antioch Review, Denver Quarterly, The New Criterion, The New Yorker, North American Review, Poetry, Quarterly West, Western Humanities Review, and Yale Review. She also has had work in anthologies, such as Under 35: The New Generation of American Poets (Doubleday/Anchor), A Fine Excess: Contemporary Literature at Play (Sarabande Books), and Poets of the New Century (David R. Godine).

Tuesday of each week “One Poet’s Notes” highlights an excellent work by a poet selected from the issues of Valparaiso Poetry Review, except when other posts with news or updates preempt the usual appearance of this item, with the recommendation that readers revisit it. Please check the sidebar to view the list of poets and works that have been past “Poem of the Week” selections. Additionally, readers are reminded that VPR pages are best read with the browser font preference in which they were set, 12 pt. Times New Roman, in order to guarantee the stanza alignment and the breaks of longer lines are preserved.