The best American poetry, 2017 / Natasha Trethewey, editor ; David Lehman, series editor.

Includes bibliographical references.

Weapons discharge report / Dan Albergotti -- Commotion of the birds / John Ashbury -- Admission / Mary Jo Bang -- On a Shaker admonition / David Barber -- Apophatic / Dan Beachy-Quick -- Homage to a painter of small things / Bruce Bond -- Intrigue in the trees / John Brehm -- Bullet points / Jericho Brown -- The dead / Nickole Brown -- Elegy with a gold cradle / Cyrus Cassells -- Fidelity and the dead singer / Isaac Cates -- I forgive you / Allison Cobb -- Steer your way / Leonard Cohen -- A wild tom turkey / Michael Collier -- The present / Billy Collins -- Two lives / Carl Dennis -- Spontaneous remission / Claudia Emerson -- Kaddish / David Feinstein -- The boatman / Carolyn ForcheÌ -- Given to these proclivities, by God / Vievee Francis -- Dead butterfly / Amy Gerstler -- Canasta / Reginald Gibbons -- Passage / Margaret Gibson -- from The Black Maria / Aracelis Girmay -- Higher education / Jeffrey Harrison -- Ars poetica with Bacon / Terrance Hayes -- Mounting the Dove Box / W. J. Herbert -- Cause of death: Fox News / Tony Hoagland -- Hamlet texts Guildenstern about playing upon the pipe / John Hodgen -- Certain things / David Brendan Hopes -- The FlaÌneur tends a well-liked summer cocktail / Major Jackson -- History (n.) / John James -- Homecoming / Rodney Jones -- Progress notes / Fady Joudah -- Grackle / Meg Kearney -- The age of anxiety / John Koethe -- from The Last Bohemian of Avenue A / Yusef Komunyakaa -- The watch / Danusha LameÌris

Lapse / Dorianne Laux -- Rain in winter / Philip Levine -- Kill list / Amit Majmudar -- Things that break / Jamaal May -- White / Judson Mitcham -- Upon reading that Eric Dolphy transcribed even the calls of certain species of birds / John Murillo -- To Marlon Brando in hell / Joyce Carol Oates -- Ode to the glans / Sharon Olds -- Letter beginning with two lines by CzesÅaw MiÅosz / Matthew Olzmann -- Three dark proverb sonnets / Gregory Orr -- Rockabye / Carl Phillips -- Halo / Rowan Ricardo Phillips -- Names / Robert Pinsky -- Poliomyelitus / Stanley Plumly -- Assemblage of ruined plane parts, Vietnam Military Museum, Hanoi / Paisley Rekdal -- The mercy home / Michael Ryan -- Emanations / David St. John -- I went for a walk in winter / Sherod Santos -- Where to put it / Taije Silverman -- Seeing things / Charles Simic -- Last summer of innocence / Danez Smith -- Good bones / Maggie Smith -- MaricoÌn / R. T. Smith -- Shattered / A. E. Stallings -- Afraid to pray / Pamela Sutton -- Sad song / Chase Twichell -- Something / James Valvis -- Dear skull / Emily Van Kley -- Deconstruction / Wendy Videlock -- Scheherazade / Lucy Wainger -- Double helix / Crystal Williams -- Prelude / Christian Wiman -- Greenacre / Monica Youn -- Precatio simplex / C. Dale Young -- Infinitives / Dean Young -- Money road / Kevin Young -- Poem for vows / Matthew Zapruder.