Anna V.Q. Ross' "After All" & D. Dina Friedman's "Amen" After AllAnna V.Q. RossEven when the garlic crop is good,something else is always dying—the peas withering in the afternoon we hopedfor rain instead of watering, the tomatoesover-shaded. It should teach us...
“I wasn’t just writing about the earth, but the earth as a body, deep time and time travel, but more so about myself and my heart—learning to see myself through stages of recognition, voice, transformation and renewal. In retrospect, much of this was a study of spending time in the unfamiliar to allow what feels like disaster or quest to turn into a renewed understanding of strength, certainty and self-love.” — Kristian Macaron
For the last two years, Mass Poetry has been bringing you the “Hard Work of Hope,” a series of poems from members of our community that tell the story of the pandemic and all its ripple effects in our lives. But we cannot tell the full story without hearing from...
“One of the things I like to make time for is writing out a poem by hand. It’s something I recommend to folks as it places us in a similar silence as the act of writing a poem ourselves. It also slows us down and has us paying attention to words.” — José Araguz
An American ElegyGrace Mattern We go back to not dying,wherever we fall is the beginning —an allée of elms planted to createa lace of sunlight and shadow.What separates branches from windin designing their dance? Nothing.We carry our own seasons wonderingwhen we will...
“I first fell in love with poetry as a child. Poetry was everywhere, as it is for all kids: in nursery rhymes and playground jump rope songs. When I learned that people wrote books—poetry and otherwise—I knew that I wanted to write.” — DeMisty D. Bellinger
Grounding Lavender Elisa Rowe Wrap a scarf likekneading dough, poola little lavender to grazemy cheek.My body, a slippingfinger on a piano. Mybody, trembling into tune.I want to be soft likebelonging. I wantmy neurons to fire acountry into memory.Routine is like a...
I dream of a house I’ll never haveCarmen Barefield maybe a little bungalow with a big backyardand a fig tree’s shadow painting the grassits heavy limbs bowing from all its fruitand on move in day, I’ll leave the unpackingto curl up beneath it just because I can the...
“It’s been astonishing to have entered each poem individually, and then to discover that they were interacting with each other. I love the dynamic process of discovering connections I didn’t realize were there. It’s as if the poems have a life of their own, and reach across the book to reflect on one another.” — Rebecca Kaiser Gibson
notes on: acts of service by Anthony Febo and so i propose to you to ponder thisin all the attire you may dress Love in - a night by fire or a stroll under starlight or the pulse of the city - may you not overlook the way “everyday small acts”...
What the Earth Is Like By Robert Knox “It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart” – Rilke, The Songs of Orpheus, No. 21 The earth is like a younger brother,who follows his sun around, copying his ways, rising from the...
“i swear i could see the sun start to rise in paris, / creeping in on the tip of the eiffel tower and as my back falls onto sinking asphalt; / i dream of living with a lover in constant beloved.” — Anjalequa Birkett
“It took me a while to understand that a poet isn’t defined by complex metaphors or the way they present their work…a poet is only defined as and by the person whose name and essence stamp those stanzas and similes. So in short, don’t let what you think hold you back. Let what you know push you forward.” — Anjalequa Birkett
Shortly after COVID-19's arrival in our state, Mass Poetry put out a call for poems of this moment and we were stunned by the overwhelming response. In a way, these were poems of witness, asking you to pay attention to what was happening in the world during...
Permabeauty in the Boston Athenæum by Andie Sheridan In ash and thornin heightful stacks and stairsa librarianstuck through with a pencil--in her hair a pencilstuck through her hair--clutch-touches through the genealogy of not touching orbegrudging;Exposed red...
Portuguese Man-of-War Angelo Mao is not a real creature, being madefrom a collusion of organismsunder one sail. Nevertheless, its tentacles can reachthree times a grown man’s height,dangling so far that one cannot seetheir ends, because sea-water, by that depth,...
“People say (poets say) they write poems because they have to. It’s not a choice. Poetry is how they are able to move through the world. Poetry helps me get out from under the farce of the world. It helps me get out from under the weight of my existence, and my complicity in the cycle.” — AR Dugan
“A foot / of deep-caked snow / still on the driveway, / and February’s blank stare / through our darkening window. / Suddenly, a lone ladybug / flaunts her colors / on the pane.” — Ronald W. Pies
The Idea of Eleanor William Tilleczek Hail, corner-rounder and surpriseUnder the table! We are your luck,You ours. We await even your hiccups:There is nothing to prove. Every radiantLove is in your face, now forming atIts break-neck pace each day. We waitTo hail you,...
“My hope is that this project inspires other writers and artists, especially BIPOC folks, queer people, disabled people, and others who have been marginalized in the literary and art communities, to develop new ways of releasing work into the world. There is a myriad of ways we can dream up to engage with capitalism differently and to create and deepen community. That’s what I’m most excited about.”
“If landscape once was / sacramental, then / let me dig in mud / and dust, smear its mark / across my brow, wash / my feet in moving / waters when I step / into its river, / and let me never / find the other side.”