Zbigniew Herbert: The Envoy of Mr. Cogito
and do not forgive truly it is not in your power
to forgive in the name of those betrayed at dawn
Myisha Cherry: From the erotic to the political – the legacy of Audre Lorde
The feminist poet and scholar Audre Lorde left a legacy that my generation, women, people of colour and members of the LGBTQ community have widely and wisely embraced. And we still … Continue reading
Nina Kossman: Three Poems about a Head (Two)
If you cut off your right hand and bury it in the garden,
it will grow into a little daughter with wings instead of arms.
Nina Kossman: Three Poems About a Head (1)
And you, who came in here wearing rings,
but without your head,
leave your rings by the door,
and put your head on
Michael Simms: Praise the Poet
Empires fall and buildings crumble, but songs and stories survive.
Leonard Gontarek: Coffee
1 For the young women going door to door, black dresses, fishnet stockings, asking if we’ve thought about death on this beautiful fall Saturday. For the light that has made … Continue reading
Doug Anderson: The Way Back
. Dear American left (what left? who’s left?): could it be that while we were stamping our feet in righteousness the Right ran off with the store? Could it be … Continue reading
Djelloul Marbrook: Poetry as Lightning
Poetry is by its very nature subversive. Poetry is the lightning of a society. In its flashes the demons of a society glow. The copper-wired job of the critical establishment … Continue reading
John Samuel Tieman: For my Nam buddies
this isn’t a poem about manly battlefields and the many dead it’s a modern sonnet about traffic jams and medical exams and my eyes dilated and my novel a block … Continue reading
Doug Anderson: Power
Not the six fingered queen with her drifting eye but the hot-cheeked scullery maid, breasts resting on the plate of fruit she carries. Not the King, head-soft with syphillis but … Continue reading
Jose Padua: The Age of Resistance
When all the things I used to whisperdecline into words left unheard like liquid spilling from a cup away from the tongue and onto the table is when I will … Continue reading
Djelloul Marbrook: Don’t Believe the Libel that Poets Don’t Engage in Politics
Watching, we won’t see leaves break through the smooth finality of surface. This strophe from Rusty Morrison’s poem, “History of Seed,”* explains to a wondrous extent the way we are beguiled … Continue reading
Naomi Shihab Nye: Questions in July
Where does terror come from? Possibly from people who are terrified. Why does it hurt more when the killed were boys on a beach? They had the breath of the sea in their … Continue reading
Naomi Shihab Nye: Two Poems
To Israel Are you sleeping well? What do you tell your children, studying history? It was so evil, that people could herd us and hurt us, steal our homes … Continue reading
