A few years back, Dana Gioia asked the question "Can poetry matter?" and argued that "poetry has vanished as a cultural force in America." (His essay appeared in The Atlantic for May, 1991.) As a graduate student in English, participating in a seminar focused on Gioia's question, I am interested to hear of unexpected ways in which poetry does matter in our lives today. With a background in the natural sciences (BA in biochemistry, UC Berkeley, 1973) I would especially like to hear from anyone who has shared poems with science students or incorporated poetry into science-related writings or museum exhibits. Thanks, -- Mark Foster | Poets are the University of North Dakota | unacknowledged legislators Grand Forks, ND | of the World. [log in to unmask] | --Percy Bysshe Shelley