In “Notes on Desire, on Distance,” a dead buck in the road leaves the speaker to muse on the passions in her life. These musings, both familial and romantic, guide the poem’s climax of ultimate unity. Notes on Desire,…
In “When You Kiss Me Your Hands Smell Like Bleach,” a mundane scene of spring cleaning turns into a declaration of true passion. In a whimsical tone, the speaker praises love and beauty of the everyday, like Neruda’s odes before…
In the Year of Our Making & Unmaking made a stunning debut this month—a powerful and innovative meditation on love and beauty and mystery punched into the chapbook form. Carl Phillips chose this chapbook as the winner of our 2020…
In “to bear false whiteness,” the speaker offers a complex yet defiant look at the expansion of whiteness, colonialism, and racism in the media, history, and culture. In a justified tone, the speaker denounces said forces and their toxic authority.…
In “Single Women,” the speaker remembers a time when there were no men around to encourage “the pretension of our modesty.” Instead, freedom and liberation reign, as the women “roamed the house…with or without bath towels or underwear.” Single…
Frederick Speers’ IN THE YEAR OF OUR MAKING & UNMAKING is here! It’s free, it’s digital, it’s all yours. Read the chapbook now. The Frontier team is beyond excited to share with you our third chapbook, the winner of the…
In “levitate,” after profound line after profound line, we learn of the speaker’s connection to familial loss. Also, through the use of surreal yet serene prose poetry lines, we see the triumph of his family life: “she turned green grass…
In “to witness sunset & not say goodbye,” the speaker searches for something resembling love, only to find “a half-healed wound pealing itself.” Also, through social media interactions or lack-thereof, with a potential suitor, the speaker’s longings only seem to…
In “Another Ode to Detroit,” the speaker praises the mundane squalor and the extraordinary valor of the city of Detroit, Michigan. Never romanticizing, but always keeping it real: Jenkins skillfully paints a realist picture of a resilient city we can…
In “The Stent,” the speaker laments the illness of her father, using fruit as a metaphor for life and hardship. In the end, there is even empathy for the disease: who could resist her father’s heart? The Stent In…
