Vox Populi

A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 6,000,000 visitors since 2014 and over 9,000 archived posts.

Michael Simms: Bored in quarantine? Here are 43 things to do to keep yourself entertained

Re-arrange your sock drawer in a way that pleases your socks. Remember, it’s not always about you!

April 25, 2020 · 2 Comments

Michael Simms: Black Brick, Yellow Brick

I will die in Pittsburgh on a beautiful day…

March 21, 2020 · 4 Comments

Vox Populi: An Interview With Our Editor

On Friday, we caught up with poet, blogger, editor and activist Michael Simms at his kitchen table where he was preparing his Saturday morning post for Vox Populi.

February 22, 2020 · 28 Comments

Michael Simms: The Chemistry of Love

Oxytocin and
Dopamine dancing
In the hallways of attachment

February 14, 2020 · 4 Comments

Michael Simms: Re-reading Christina Rossetti’s ‘In an Artist’s Studio’

The value of Rossetti’s poem lies in both the expert use of the Petrarchan sonnet, a particularly challenging form to master in English, and in the poet’s complex stance on the role of art in creating and re-enforcing images of women.

January 24, 2020 · Leave a comment

Michael Simms: The end of civilization as we know it

I want to apologize for walking in
When the dog was licking
Your bald head as you lay
On the couch drinking rum
Straight from the bottle…

January 18, 2020 · 27 Comments

Michael Simms: The Story of Autumn House Press (1998-2020)

Most literary presses fade away when the founder leaves, so I cannot tell you how much it thrills me that AHP continues into the second generation.

January 5, 2020 · 8 Comments

Michael Simms: Scarf

The old man and the blonde woman smiled and waved at me, and I felt a surge of gratitude to be among such decent people in this lovely city in a dark time when the light of kindness seems so rare.

January 1, 2020 · 10 Comments

Michael Simms: Here are the most popular Vox Populi posts of 2019

In 2019 Vox Populi published 751 posts, usually two per day, resulting in over 8 million views. Here is a list of our most popular posts in 2019 listed by category: poetry, personal essays, political articles, and art/music/cinema.

December 26, 2019 · 8 Comments

Paul Celan: Death Fugue

Black milk of dawn we drink it in the evening
we drink it at noon and in the morning we drink it at night

December 15, 2019 · Leave a comment

Eva-Maria Simms, Michael Simms: Translating Rilke

Every thing is protected
by a grace ready for flight,
every stone and flower
every child at night.

December 6, 2019 · 2 Comments

Michael Simms: Antbed

You may remember my father
died when I was eight
my mother closed up
the house and we went to stay
with my grandmother for a few months

November 17, 2019 · 6 Comments

César Vallejo: Black Stone on a White Stone

I will die in Paris on a rainy day,
a day I can already remember.

November 1, 2019 · Leave a comment

Thomas Sayers Ellis: All Their Stanzas Look Alike

All their Selected Collecteds
All their Oxford Nortons
All their Academy Societies
All their Oprah Vendlers
All their stanzas look alike

October 29, 2019 · Leave a comment

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