Jill Biden, Poetry, and a Dream

While researching Poems by First Ladies: The First-Ever Anthology, I tried to find poetry by Jill Biden. As I explained in an appendix, she is outspoken about her love of poetry, she has a master’s in English, and she has had students write poems in college writing classes. Even her biographer and her press secretary could not confirm my hunch that she has written poetry. The latter did not find any “public poetry,” and her attempt to “see if there’s anything else we can share” did not come to fruition.

Dr. Biden’s new memoir, View from the East Wing, was published on Tuesday. She doesn’t include any original verse, but she does discuss teaching poetry.

Dr. Biden recounts how she often told students on the first day of class that they’d have “a poetry assignment,” which would be met with groans. After the students wrote their poems, however, many volunteered to read them to their classmates. Once, the pupils wanted to display their poems in the classroom. While this might look more at home in an elementary school than a college, Dr. Biden got construction paper and tape and hung up the poems on the wall!

Last night, I had a dream inspired by View from the East Wing. I was behind Dr. Biden while in line to board a plane. I said, “Dr. Biden, I’m the editor of Poems by First Ladies: The First-Ever Anthology.” I had a copy in my backpack, so I gave it to her. While she appreciated the idea of the book, she seemed suspicious, as if I’d dug up some private poem that she didn’t want published. I told her that, despite my hunch that she’d written poetry and my best efforts to find it, I hadn’t discovered any. I asked whether she has written poetry. She talked about loving poetry in general. She suggested that she has dabbled in writing poetry but hadn’t composed any full-fledged poems that she’d want published.

This might have been a dream, but I expect that it’s more or less what she would say if I did bump into her!