Poetry: Distance by Jane Morton
Jane Morton’s latest poem burrows into the reader’s body and ripens there. In the end, “Distance” is a poem that tries to wrap around the gap of loss, asking us what it means to let go, to move on, to…
Category: General
Poetry: Song of Grief X by Alex Webster
Every poem in its way is an incantation of reanimation, and Alex Webster’s: “No gunshot. No head wound. / No sound, but the moon— / Raw and shy.” Webster’s newest poem, “Song of Grief X”, piles visually like feathers tumbling to the…
Poetry: WHEN THE SKY IS FULL OF DESIRE, THE GODS ARE CLOSE by Maxine Patroni
Greek tragedies will always be grounds for modern exploration, a tradition Maxine Patroni engages beautifully here. A delicate poem that slides its intimacy behind punchy short lines and ghostly women, “When the Sky is Full of Desire, The Gods Are…
Poetry: Eternal Sunshine by Sihle Ntuli
Existent because of Terrance Hayes, the golden shovel form lifts up two poems at once, held side by side, fingers interlaced. Sihle Ntuli’s “Eternal Sunshine” finds itself only within that embrace—only within the echoes of Nxumalo’s piece can the full expression,…
Poetry: ODD HISTORY by Leigh Lucas
Leigh Lucas makes a providence of image, condensing so much meaning to a single, inevitable point—a destiny in 5 lines and 44 words. Notice and enjoy, just how much mystery “ODD HISTORY” releases from the tension within its one powerful…
Poetry: Inferno
One of poetry’s many superpowers is the ability to lend a voice to the dearly departed. “Inferno” allows Melanie Trinidad one last moment to speak to her beloveds, who survived the fire that took her life. In the last breath…
Poetry: November in the National Gallery
So much of our day to day lives are governed by the small and urgent gifts of longing–a lover leaving a shirt behind from the night before, walking around a park and watching the world shift from one season to…
Exceptional Poetry From Around the Web: August 2022
Hello poets and poetry lovers! It’s August already! It’s the last full month of summer. So much change is in the air. Friends are moving, starting new jobs, figuring out life post-graduation, post-program, making space for newness. As I’m moving…
Poetry: Fugitive
What is the language of a fugitive? And who deems who someone marked by such a name? Through erasure, Smith moves through these questions, navigating what it means to be a woman, a body at odds with the state for…
Poetry: Emile
In 1962, welterweight champion Emile Griffiths goes toe-to-toe with Benny “Kid” Paret in Madison Square Garden. The air is filled with salt and sweat and shouts as the fight roars on. Losing the fight, Kid called Emile a “fa**ot”. A…
