This month’s “In Retrospect” interview is with Adedayo Agarau, whose collection The Years of Blood won the Poetic Justice Institute Editor’s Prize for BIPOC Writers. In this series, we ask renowned poets to look back over their poems and collections,…
Even the smallest of exchanges between beloveds carry the weight of an entire relationship, as Molly Thapviwat proves with her poem “LEAVE-IN.” Careful, intentional attention given to particular language exchanged about love impacts the way it feels between two people,…
Sometimes, our dreams are so odd that they don’t really elucidate our anxieties, and other times, they’re uncannily precise in their replay of our feelings and experiences. Yosra Bouslama begins “Grace Period” inside of one dream, a dream about losing…
This month’s “In Retrospect” interview is with Grant Chemidlin, whose first collection was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. In this series, we ask renowned poets to look back over their poems and collections, mapping out…
How do we elegize even the smallest of creatures? How do we respond to the “natural order” of their dying? In her poem, Iris Lee gives careful consideration to a box of silkworms; the images and sensations of the speaker’s…
Dalapo Tajudeen’s poem “Still Life” is like a condensed drop of gold. Its minimalism amplifies its power. It starts in a seemingly trivial moment of the speaker asking their father how he wants his coffee. His stillness quickly spirals the…
This month’s “In Retrospect” interview is with Chrysanthemum (Chris) Watkins, whose poem “Prayer (II)” we published in 2024. In this series, we ask renowned poets to look back over their poems and collections, mapping out their poetic processes. We sought…
There are many ways to picture God, as our world’s numerous religions and spiritual practices prove, and Maren Logan’s poem explores several unconventional depictions. God begins “as the boy in geometry everyone has a crush on,” including the speaker and…
This month’s “In Retrospect” interview is with Gbenga Adesina, the Guest Judge of our poetry prize which is open for submissions until March 8th. In this series, we ask renowned poets to look back over their poems and collections, mapping…
Christina Connerton’s poem is a master class in the power of a title to give readers the keys to unlock a poem’s insights. By prescribing (quite literally “writing before”) meaning to the parts of the poem before each comma plus…
