Angela Cao is ambitious with “Against letting sleeping dogs lie,” and she delivers—in just a short grouping of lines she is able to demonstrate with lyrical precision a coming-of-age narrative turned on its head, a story that all too many…
Hero Jason has the remarkable ability to cut through the noise. He brings a refreshing honesty to spiritual practice, and even as his speaker struggles with their faith, it’s clear that Jason has tapped into a well of essential human…
Zoe Korte pulls no punches. The first lines of their poem “Dress Up Game,” cover all the bases, from human sacrifice all the way to devout religious practice. There’s an element to the way they create pairings, both in terms…
Mary Robles’ “Psychic, 1988: ColoringMemory,New Mexico,” is immediately eye catching because of the keenly described sensory detail: in the first lines we see “sweet & bitter chestnut paste,’” and “roses / weeping on his forearms,” both of which are unique and evocative…
The structure of Naraya Noor’s “Maternal Instinct,” feels repetitive, but as the reader looks closer, the heartbeat of the poem—a ghazal—brings out the physical language of the body, and the intimacy that the relationship between mother and daughter is invoked…
Welcome to LINE LEVEL: Craft Lessons from Poets of Color, a monthly column in which writer, editor, and educator Joanna Acevedo zooms in on an element of craft from the work of BIPOC poets. LINE LEVEL unfolds in three parts:…
Kay Kassirer’s “golden shovel after my mother’s affidavit for medical assistance in dying,” is not an easy poem. It’s a difficult poem to consider but that’s why it’s important. Kassirer isn’t pretending that the ugly parts of inequality don’t exist…
The surreal nature and repetitive language in Lisa L. Moore’s “Begin Again,” echoes the desperation that many marginalized communities feel in this current moment. The repeating sonic element of “Let me,” asks for a permission in a way that many…
Sheree La Puma’s poem, “She Introduces Herself As Katie,” has a physicality to its weird music, a kind of pulsing rhythm that immediately evokes the body and its sometimes conflicting desires. Ambiguity and tension are hard at work in this…
There’s a surreal element to Zephyr Zhang’s “Object Permanence.” The poem begins somewhat innocuously with, “I am a lock,” but quickly it escalates to, “I am an insecure lock.” Zhang drags us into their emotional world without permission, and while…
