LINE LEVEL #9
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:…
Blog
Poetry: “intervention with an imagined older me” by Natalie Gates
Natalie Gates does what we all wish we could—she talks to herself, but herself actually talks back. In this tongue-in-cheek coming of age narrative, “intervention with an imagined older me,” a present-day Gates interrogates a later version of herself, hoping…
Poetry: “Are You Calling to Me, White Deer With No Horns?” by Jill Mceldowney
Jill Mceldowney’s “Are You Calling To Me, White Deer With No Horns?” brings threads of violence together, a kind of everyday violence that comes from the repeated way that we can all sacrifice our own needs for acceptance, or because…
Poetry: “Again, I Am Remembering the Average Life Span of a Housefly is Fifteen to Thirty Days” by Youssef Mohamed
The first lines of Youssef Mohamed’s poem published here represent a kind of challenge, or perhaps a threat. For those of us participating in the Sealey Challenge, reading a book of poems each day during this August, we can certainly…
2024 “(Not) In Love” Tanka Challenge First Place WINNER: “Physics Lesson: How a Girl Stores Power” by Diana Tokaji
It’s time to congratulate our First Place WINNER of Frontier Poetry‘s 2024 “(Not) In Love” Tanka Challenge, Diana Tokaji! Read the evocative, award-winning tanka “Physics Lesson: How a Girl Stores Power” below. This tanka was chosen for first place for…
Poetry: “I haven’t rewatched The Dressmaker since” by Liz Sutherland
“…Kate Winslet is a masterpiece all on her own / but in 2015 she disassembled both ventricles, they / no longer pump my heart,” writes Liz Sutherland. Their poem is eerie and ominous in the way it evokes blood and…
2024 “(Not) In Love” Tanka Challenge Second Place Winner: “I Was Once” by Jonathan Carroll
Please help us celebrate the Second Place Winner of Frontier Poetry‘s 2024 “(Not) In Love” Tanka Challenge, Jonathan Carroll. Check out their profound tanka, “I Was Once.” We chose this tanka for its quick drop into the depths of complicated…
Poetry: “Green Group” by Raza Ayoob
Raza Ayoob’s rhythmic poem, rife with layers of family and memory, recalls a moment of migration and hope. As the poem traces the veins of time, we see the way he repeats words and phrases but manipulates the details so…
2024 “(Not) In Love” Tanka Challenge Third Place Winner: “Seeds of Sorrow” By Rina Malagayo Alluri
Join us in congratulating the Third Place Winner of Frontier Poetry‘s 2024 “(Not) In Love” Tanka Challenge, Rina Malagayo Alluri. Read their imagistic tanka, “Seeds of Sorrow,” below. This tanka was chosen for its ability to evoke a vivid image…
LINE LEVEL #8
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:…
