“Full turnip moon backlighting the bar, / folks tripping across the lath of the dance floor, / not involved in the search for sequence / or god.” — Howie Faerstein
Howie Faerstein’s “Russian Wood”
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Blog
Tracy Fuad’s “Terms of Syllogism” & Gregory Glenn’s “Big Bird Singing at his Father’s Funeral”
Terms of SyllogismTracy FuadI was sure that being in between meant being nowhere.Certain there were scissors that could cut me off the grid.I hoped there was a key, but was sure the void was serious,virulent and spreading. I was sure alone, most of the time.And...
Getting to Know Brad Rose & His New Books, Momentary Turbulence and de/tonations
“I think prose poems are more approachable, more “democratic,” than much of lineated contemporary poetry because of their ease of reading. Even people who don’t like poetry can approach a prose poem, or micro fiction, because these look like almost everything else they read. I think the unassuming appearance of prose poems adds to their disruptive and startling moments.”
Alondra Bobadilla’s “7/26/2020 10:11am” & Marquis Victor’s “Why I Create”
7/26/2020 10:11am Alondra Bobadilla •Plymouth Rock• ocean draws back sand appearing to be the veins of the sea tracks like seal slither leading back to earth’s greatest wonder and slickest deception domestic surface becomes roaring waves in one blinkan explosion...
Getting to Know Rebecca Hart Olander & Her New Book, Uncertain Acrobats
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? My stepmother is the Massachusetts poet Christopher Jane Corkery, so being a poet was something I knew was a real thing from childhood, when she came into my life. I...
Zia Pollis’ “Moon’s Milk, Lion’s Milk”
Moon’s Milk, Lion’s Milk by Zia Pollis I. Moon’s Milk For years I believed I was the furthest daughter from the son. An alien body, a broken orb in rotation around a more sacred center. My father, the Jupiter King, the Purple God, raised a storm of love in our shaking...
Meet the November U35 Readers
Quintin Collins What is most important to your writing process? The most important part of my writing process is letting the poems do their thing. From the title to the final word, I have to let the groove guide the intellect. Otherwise, I fail the poem. The pandemic...
Getting to Know Denise Provost & Her New Book, City of Stories
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? My mother read to me from a book of children’s poetry when I was very little. I soon after became obsessed with song lyrics on the radio and on the vinyl records we...
Sara Letourneau’s “Flowers at a Funeral” & Sarah Sutro’s “Orange Lilies”
Flowers at a Funeral by Sara LetourneauI don’t want to think about the flowers.They burn my eyes, blazing like sunsagainst the white parish wallsand the casket’s dark polished wood.Acknowledging them feels like whisperingprofanities in this crowded holy room wherethe...
Joyce Peseroff’s “A Visit to the Smash Room”
A Visit to the Smash Roomby Joyce PeseroffDonated TVs, microwaves,printers, trophies, vases on tables. Baseball bats and mauls ready by the wall. $50/hr to playwith your boyfriend or alonewhen it’s hard to be a goodMom during the workday, gas up the...
Getting to Know Cammy Thomas & her new book Tremors
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? The first time I remember poetry making a deep impression on me was when I had the measles at age eight. My mother had them along with me, and we lay in her bed with...
Karen Elizabeth Sharpe’s “How Hunger like the Kingfisher” and Catherine Stearns “As Heron Is To Patience”
How to Know Hunger like the Kingfisher by Karen Elizabeth SharpeMake yourselfhigh on a perchplunge headfirstbelow muscled waves,a plummet of halcyon gashand dagger-shaped bill.30 feet or more. Pluck the silverslipper craving of fish.Fan your wings and rise.High on a...
Ellen Steinbaum’s “Summer 2021 Cicadas”
Summer 2021 Cicadas Ellen Steinbaum They’re my last cicadas, though who can be sure, of course. Given my age and their infrequent outings,like scheduled comets and eclipses, they could be penultimate, but most likely my concluding swarm. Every seventeen...
The Hard Work of Justice
In light of recent events, this week’s issue of The Hard Work of Hope will be a little different. We are always trying to offer poems that meet the moment, and the current crisis in Haiti—along with its long history of instability and the United States’ involvement in...
Getting to Know David P. Miller & His New Book, Bend in the Stair
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I’ve been a reader of poetry for my entire life. My parents read to me, but I was an early reader too, so I was able to take in A. A. Milne and Robert Louis Stevenson, for...
Margot Douaihy’s “Love is a Battlefield, Literally, Because the Planet is on Fire”
Love is a Battlefield, Literally, Because the Planet is on Fire Margot Douaihy & I’m too in love with this world & its creatures, even though it feels like I’m choking sometimes,burning in a mote of gold smoke, until I’m nothing, I’m a shadow licking the...
Getting to Know John L. Holgerson & His New Book, Convictions of the Heart
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? My first real encounter with poetry was in the 8th grade when, one day, I was called upon to stand next to my desk and read out loud to the rest of the class Part Two of The...
Richard Hoffman’s “Refugee” & Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’ “Raw Enlightenment” (Trans. Talia Franks)
Refugee by Richard HoffmanA man carries his door,the door of his house,because when the war is overhe is going homewhere he will hang iton its hingesand lock it, tight,while he tries to rememberthe word for welcome.If his house is gonewhen he returns,he will raise it...
Meet the September U35 Readers
Elisa Rowe What is most important to your writing process? Doubt and wonder, equally. What about you comes across most in your writing? Maybe my sensitivity? To emotions, experiences, objects, how my senses process the world and the way it shapes me in big and...
Jill McDonough’s “Cindy Comes To Hear Me Read”
Cindy Comes To Hear Me Read by Jill McDonoughCindy: not her real name. I met herin prison, and people in prison I givethe fake names. I taught her Shakespeare, rememberher frown, wide eyes, terror of gettingthings wrong. Her clear, arguable thesison Desdemona’s...
Getting to Know Blake Z. Rong and His New Book I Am Not Young And I Will Die With This Car In My Garage
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? For the longest time, truth be told, I had no idea that I ever wanted to write poems: I had joined the MFA program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts as a fiction writer, and my...