James Crews: The Slightest Kindness
We were walking the icy streets,
talking about the ways our country
has betrayed us again—promises
unkept, laws broken beyond repair.
Video: Maneuvers
“Maneuvers (Manöver)” is an experimental animation combining skiing with stop-motion animation.
Michael T. Young | The Secular Sublime: An Appreciation of Gerald Stern
Stern’s poems are deceptively simple. He writes in a language completely devoid of pretense and yet dignified with the elegance of profound meditation.
Rose Mary Boehm: Poinciana and then some
Green canopies aflame with
an unreal red, lit by the dying sun.
Yonhi in the plastic chair, blue baseball
cap pushed back. He’s seen it all.
Andrea Mazzarino: The United States of Consumption
Our Trash and Our Lives, Here and Abroad
Edison Jennings: One of Many Melodious Songs
An ivy educated American male,
bespoke suited but modest and sincere,
once seated and lighted to good effect
and confident of his look and manner
will, when gently prodded, confess
Chris Walker: Immigrant Children Lead Uprising at Texas Detention Center
An uprising broke out at an immigrant jail in southern Texas on Saturday, with around 1,000 immigrants detained in the facility — many of them children — chanting “Libertad” and “Let us go,”
Alison Hurwitz: On Resilience
In 8th grade English class my son’s assigned
a sonnet, asked to find an image, select
one metaphor that can expand to bind
disparate thoughts together.
Sarah van Gelder: After the Devastation of Trump’s First Year, These Popular Rebellions Offer Hope
After the Devastation of Trump’s First Year, These Popular Rebellions Offer Hope
Richard St. John: Death of the Tragedians
He was torn apart by dogs
set loose by playwrights, jealous that the gods
gave him more talent
Jon Queally: 149 House Democrats Vote to Hand Trump $840 Billion for Military
“If an opposition party votes like this, it’s not in opposition. It may not even be a party.”
Barbara Crooker: Climbing the Eiffel Tower at Night
We climb into this ladder of light.
Chard deNiord: Meadow Altar
So, he spoke
to his horses, now loosed from the wagon and grazing
nearby with heads bowed to the fescue and rye,
as if also praying, which, of course, they had no need
to do, blessed and saved as they were already
William Blake and Catherine Boucher: Four Images from The First Book of Urizen
The globe of life-blood trembled
Branching out into roots:
Fib’rous, writhing upon the winds:
Fibres of blood, milk and tears
