LINE LEVEL #5
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: “a dead child has something to say about _____” by Martins Deep
“i mean, my kindred +spirits calling me +out of my nostrils +just when i could make a promise +to not go +down in the river with a sun +the yellow of my jaundice.” In this poignant poem, Martins Deep utilizes…
Poetry: “Embouchure” by Mickie Kennedy
“My tongue / glistens I think it’s crying every tastebud / a tear duct every tooth a tuning fork” With the flute as a catalyst, Mickie Kennedy joins music and anatomy in this textured and striking poem. Embouchure I successfully…
Poetry: “Semi-American Hightailing” by Vanessa Y. Niu
“The heart, she seems to whisper, the heart never / stops marching. You are simply its feet.” In this visually rich and evocative poem, Vanessa Niu aptly turns the revolution into a long road trip across state lines as we…
Poetry: “Prayer (II)” By Chris Watkins
In this poem, Chris Watkins utilizes religion, spirituality, and modernity to reclaim queerness with evocative language. Note from the author: “This poem employs queerphobic language. I am a a genderqueer poet and feel comfortable using/reclaiming the language as it is…
Poetry: “WHEN MY FATHER TELLS ME TO TAKE MY EARRING OUT” by Arya Vishin
“When he handed them over, earrings dripping with teeth—the heavens / howled in protest & the silver tigers cried out.” Arya Vishin tactfully uses imagery inspired by the epic story, Mahabharat, to delve into the nuances of devotion. In the…
LINE LEVEL #4
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: Some Day, Underwater Archaeologists by S.J. Pearce
“Some day, I realize, underwater archaeologists / will find, upon necropsy, the artifacts of my brief presence / in the stomach of the last Great White that entered the lagoon” Take a deep dive into the crystalline imagery of “Some…
Poetry: Creation Myth by Shiyang Su
“I said flesh / was a soft patch of wheat, a half-knotted rope. I said / rain was the unnamed radar sound in a dinosaur rib.” Shiyang Su zooms into a singular moment between the speaker and their father that…
LINE LEVEL #3
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:…
