Lisa Suhair Majaj: For the Dead Among Us
We will keep you alive
in our longing, in our breath.
Brett Wilkins: ‘I Am Not a Terrorist’: Letters From Gaza Children Decry Daily Horrors of Israeli Assault
A U.K.-based humanitarian group on Tuesday delivered “heartbreaking” letters from two Palestinian girls—including one who lost her arm in an Israeli attack—imploring new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene.
Barbara Hamby: Ode to Knots, Noise, Waking Up at Three, and Falling Asleep Reading to My Id
Why does everything seems so impossible
in the middle of the night? I wake up at three
with my mind in a knot
Vegan Kitchen: Holy Guacamole!
The best sandwich I’ve ever eaten I bought at a food stand in the Austin airport years ago. A thin layer of guacamole on one thick slice of seed bread, a thin layer of humus on the other slice, and bean sprouts, chopped tomato and pepper relish in between. Since then, I’ve made variations on that sandwich many times.
Phillip Terman: My Blossoming Everything
It is red raspberries in a circular thicket of thorns.
Who are you, my beloved? My sweetness,
My swallowtail, my infinite youth?
James Crews: Berrypicking On the Dexter Trail
I see how the bulldozers that disfigured
this land, and removed the mossy,
old-growth maples, also made room
for black raspberry bushes to fill out
and fruit, ripeness reaching for my hands.
Rachel Hadas: ‘The immortal Gods alone have neither age nor death’: Wisdom from Greek tragedies for Joe Biden
It’s useful to think about the potential strengths, as well as the vulnerabilities, of age.
Andrea Mazzarino: America’s War on Terror and the Wasting of Our Democracy
The rapid pace of Gaza’s descent into famine is remarkable among conflicts.
Mandy Fessenden-Brauer: Two Poems About the Orchards of Gaza
Although it’s one of the most densely populated areas in the world, Gaza’s always had a distinct rural quality. Everyone grew something, some in agricultural areas away from their homes. Even in the very crowded refugee camps there were small atriums with a tree and potted plants.
Jason Irwin: Blaze of Glory
I remember sitting on the floor watching my parents dance to Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” their bodies bending and gyrating as Checker called out: “Round and round and up and down we go” like a shaman, beckoning them to partake in this ritual of body and soul…
Laure-Anne Bosselaar: The Worlds in this World
Elsewhere, somewhere, a tide recedes,
incense is lit, an infant sucks from a nipple,
a grenade shrieks, a man buys his first cane.
Edward Harkness: Left-handed Set Shot
Poems, stories, travel tales: he taught intelligence.
His art was life, how to dance with it, how to play,
how to take or not take the shot.
Patricia Spears Jones: Discontented Summer
Every picture tells a story but which story and who makes the picture
Susan Yeargin: How to keep yourself safe during expected heat waves this summer
A heat wave can pose risks for anyone who spends time outside, whether they’re runners, people who walk or cycle to work, outdoor workers or kids playing sports.
