LINE LEVEL #15
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:…
Category: General
Poetry: “QUADTINA TO GET MYSELF OVER ME” by Kit Siskin
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, we see Kit Siskin’s quadtina, which is a variation of the sestina, a poetic form requiring six stanzas of six lines with a final triplet, with the final words of each line repeating in a specific…
Poetry: “Prayer for the high school girls giving head behind the bleachers” by Michaella Sangiolo
Michaella Sangiolo toes the line between fear and the erotic in her poem, “Prayer for the high school girls giving head behind the bleachers,” which is a memorable start to our first few New Voices of 2025. There’s an ominous…
LINE LEVEL #15 CHAT
Welcome to LINE LEVEL CHAT! Launched in 2023, LINE LEVEL is a monthly column started by writer, editor, and educator Joanna Acevedo, focusing on craft lessons from the recent or forthcoming work of contemporary poets of color. LINE LEVEL CHAT…
Poetry: “Autobiography of the Fox Woman” by Peihe Feng
There is something addictive and fantastical about Peihe Feng’s “Autobiography of the Fox Woman.” The poem, written by the Fox Woman herself, supposedly provides insight into the mystical and mysterious life of Daji, who is explained to be the paramour…
LINE LEVEL #14 CHAT
Welcome to LINE LEVEL CHAT! Launched in 2023, LINE LEVEL is a monthly column started by writer, editor, and educator Joanna Acevedo, focusing on craft lessons from the recent or forthcoming work of contemporary poets of color. LINE LEVEL CHAT…
Poetry: “Aftermath” by Christian Paulisich
Christian Paulisich’s “Aftermath,” veers in an out of focus. The voice of the speaker is haunting in their self awareness. We see their consciousness of craft in the deliberate inversion and observation of the simile and metaphor they employ from…
LINE LEVEL #14
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:…
Poetry: “in my english poems” by Josiane Kouagheu
Josiane Kouagheu is the undisputed master of implication. In this brief poem, she reveals a powerhouse indictment and accuses the centuries of colonialism which have led to the dominance of English as a global language—and the Western world at large,…
Poetry: “First Notes on Tennis” by Noreen Ocampo
Noreen Ocampo’s “First Notes on Tennis,” is intimidating, plain and simple. The structure of the poem is a little scary. But when you look closer, the poem, which mimics a tennis court, is full of lyrical and inventive moments of…
