Today's a day to change your opinion about country music. Not all of it is bad, especially when you're listening to the Dixie Chicks. "Traveling Soldier" is definitely a song with poetic lyrics and an even more poetic story about love lost. Check inside for a truly exceptional song and the opportunity to change your mind about country music.

Indie rock not your style? Looking for intellectual and though-provoking music? Today's selection might just be your cup o' tea. Lupe Fiasco's a cool dude with even cooler lyrics and they are most certainly poetic in nature. Look inside to read the lyrics of "Theme Music to a Drive-by," they are sure to leave a lasting impression on you.

Enjoying the poetry in a set of lyrics is hard to do without the music, but the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah manages to write a song that comes quite close to a poem. A series of images and objects sets up the reader/listener for a rather astounding turn at the end that leaves one wondering just what exactly is meant.

A new week, a new theme. "Poetry from the Gargoyle's mouth" is back with something a little different. During the next few days, we will be publishing song lyrics that we find to be particularly poetic. Hopefully a variety of genres and artists will give readers an appreciation for the poems that can be found in song.

Rita Dove is one of the premier contemporary poets of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Her book of poetry "American Smooth" won national acclaim. In this poem she takes us back to an evening in 1940, when Hattie McDaniel of "Gone with the Wind" fame became the first African-American to receive an Academy Award.

The Langston Hughes poem "Let America Be America Again" has become one of the most famous products of the Harlem Renaissance. Though written 70 years ago, can anything be more relevant than these lines? "Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death/ The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,/ We, the people, must redeem/ The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers./ The mountains and the endless plain —/ All, all the stretch of these great green states —/ And make America again!"

After Black Ice, it's time to switch back to something more classical with Maya Angelou. In this beautiful poem, a heart-wrenching Angelou compares a free bird to the plight of a caged bird. She says that a free bird takes its freedom for granted while a caged bird struggles to discover life and freedom.

Need something exciting to make your day brighter? Look inside because we're featuring artist Black Ice today. He's sure to put a little pep in your step with his ill beats while simultaneously giving you some thoughts to chew on. He's another in a great line of African-American rappers, artists, and poets who are accessible but also provocative. Come back tomorrow for more great African-American poetry.

It's very clear that a large part of the literary canon is made up of work from African-American writers. In keeping with that, this week we will feature poetry written by African-American poets. From the Harlem Renaissance to modern spoken word and rap, blacks in America have had a huge impact on the poetry world. Check out this poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the early black poets in America.

Today's poem is especially cute and funny because it's about the beauty in toads. "Ungainly Things" by Robert Wallace is a celebration of all that is awkward, odd, uncommon, and generally considered ugly, and the power that art has to change all of that. So look inside to read about an artist and the power he has to transform ungainly things into things of beauty.

We mentioned a poem about mapmakers and their art when we published the first poem of this series, and since we aren't ones to talk about something and not deliver, we proudly present to you "The mapmaker on his art" by Howard Nemerov, former U.S. poet laureate.

How could we publish a variety of poems and never feature a sonnet from the master himself, William Shakespeare? In fitting with this week's theme, Shakespeare describes the immortalizing nature of poetry and the power of the art form.

Ahh, the tormented artist. We're sure everyone has felt the agony of being displeased with one's own work. Anne Bradstreet's poem "The Author to Her Book" is one such example of this discontent and the unwillingness to find satisfaction in one's creative work.

[AUDIO included] We've got the latest for you in "Poetry from the Gargoyle's mouth," with senior Erin Hayes reading a poem that she really likes called "one thirty-six a.m." It's definitely a thought-provoking poem with some cool images, so make sure to look inside for her rendition of it. Also, come back later this week for more poetry about artists and how they feel about their craft.

Tired of the rampant anti-war sentiment roaming through our school? Dying for a chance to read a poem about patriotism and fighting for your country? Today's poem is all about commemorating those who have fought and died for their country, written by one of America's first literary lions, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Definitely check this poem out if you are in need of a refill of patriotism and national spirit.