Part two of our installment of poems chosen as finalists brings poems from Nicole Santalucia, Kate DeLay, and Robin Wang. Another diverse group, Santalucia’s explorations with form take us immediately into the female body, shifting into and out of fantasy…
Hero Jason has the remarkable ability to cut through the noise. He brings a refreshing honesty to spiritual practice, and even as his speaker struggles with their faith, it’s clear that Jason has tapped into a well of essential human…
Our first installment of poems chosen as finalists includes Sighle Meehan’s eerie and echoing “half-doors, bolted and broken,” which creates a call and response that haunts readers well after they leave the poetic space. By contrast, Imani Cezanne’s “I found…
Zoe Korte pulls no punches. The first lines of their poem “Dress Up Game,” cover all the bases, from human sacrifice all the way to devout religious practice. There’s an element to the way they create pairings, both in terms…
Mary Robles’ “Psychic, 1988: ColoringMemory,New Mexico,” is immediately eye catching because of the keenly described sensory detail: in the first lines we see “sweet & bitter chestnut paste,’” and “roses / weeping on his forearms,” both of which are unique and evocative…
The structure of Naraya Noor’s “Maternal Instinct,” feels repetitive, but as the reader looks closer, the heartbeat of the poem—a ghazal—brings out the physical language of the body, and the intimacy that the relationship between mother and daughter is invoked…
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:…
Kay Kassirer’s “golden shovel after my mother’s affidavit for medical assistance in dying,” is not an easy poem. It’s a difficult poem to consider but that’s why it’s important. Kassirer isn’t pretending that the ugly parts of inequality don’t exist…
The surreal nature and repetitive language in Lisa L. Moore’s “Begin Again,” echoes the desperation that many marginalized communities feel in this current moment. The repeating sonic element of “Let me,” asks for a permission in a way that many…
Join us in celebrating Marianne Kunkel, the winner of our 2024 Frontier OPEN. Read her poem, “To the Man who Hugged Me after I Rear-ended Him,” selected by our editors, below. This year, Kunkel’s poem stood out against a field…
