When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I think my first encounter with poetry was in nursery rhymes and jump-rope chants. Through them I learned about rhythm and rhyme. Then in high school, I fell in love with the...
Dreamed Weddingby Sarah Delice melts in boot treadsdrips onto the floor forming a puddle below the high table in the bar area empty, save for twograndparents, a six year-old...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I started studying poetry because I felt I knew nothing about it. I have an extensive background in American literature, and I made sure that when I began teaching at the college...
I overhear a boy humming "Jolene" while he practices long division by Carolyn Oliverand, sudden as a train’s blue note—I know I don’t deserve it—Dolly Parton becomes the president.The West Wing’s garlanded in rhinestones, fringedin bushels of Tennessee River...
Groundhogby Laura RodleyThe groundhog’s fur is silver, silkily rippling in the windas she chomps ends of grasses, clover, not yet have I seen her eat anything that causes consternation;she has scoured the walking path festoonedwith acorns that have...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I only remember loving the idea of poetry as a kid, the little daydreamer I was. I wrote a bunch of poems before the age of ten, a couple of which were published...
How to Skip Stones by Ed MeekDo you remember keeping your eyes openfor flat, oval rocks to pocketon walks to the pond?Saving the best for last, you’d leanto one side and flick your wristflinging the stones just off the water.It isn’t easy to defy gravityand make a...
Social Distancing Becomes Me by Kerry LoughmanRemotely I discard the sentiment of hearts beating as onewhen no two hearts can beat equally without cost. I am the least trod path and mask my fearswith the polished nicetyof a forced smile....
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? My mother instilled my love of reading. She encouraged me to get my library card at a young age and to take out as many books as I wanted. Then I crashed my bike riding home from...
Ms. B by Megan ScudellariIf tonight’s raincontinues its dogged dropsdrops will wash away the egg scentscent to barricade bunnies from the tulipstulips bursting from bulbs entombed in the fallthe fall after the bunnies picked the impatiens to deathspring impatiens...
A Word from Death during the Pandemic by Deborah Gorlin These days when I feel distanced from ceremonies in honor of my undoings, a memory arises unbidden, of a cliffside funeral in a tiny village, one of five, linked by rocky paths through...
Safe Passage by Brad CrenshawIAll said, things are settling down.It’s that sort of world, definitelyhaunted, but those who know report that roadsare open in Los Angeles, where peopletry to breathe again, and citizensin India can see the Himalayaswhite as frozen...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I had a writing teacher in middle school who really loved poetry, and urged me to keep writing outside of school after he found out I was going through some really dark...
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Life Before the Virusby Lesléa NewmanI.I remember shaking hands:damp sweaty hands and dry scratchy hands,bone-crushing handshakes and dead-fish handshakes,two-handed handshakes, my hand sandwiched between a pair of big beefy palms.I...
exist by Naomi JonesBlack people let’s write you a love letter 1,For the way you never dim, always vibrant,Laughing.Exploding.Let’s let you experience joy and waterFor the width of an ocean and the depth ofreleasePressure.Let’s cause an earthquake with your laughbring...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? When I was growing up, I could get lost in books and this escapism was very comforting, but I didn’t write poetry until college. When I entered college majoring in music, I...
A conversation between Erica Charis-Molling and editor Elizabeth Murphy
For those who don’t know, tell us about your history with Mass Poetry. What have you been up to since your time as our Executive Director? I started working with Mass Poetry in February 2013 as the temporary Coordinator of Outreach, Development, and Volunteers for the...
“5 Questions With” is a new series in which we learn more about Mass Poetry’s partners throughout the region. In this interview, we spoke with Janaka Stucky, Publisher at Black Ocean. Tell us a bit about your organization’s engagement with poets and poetry, and why a...
5+ Questions With” is a new series in which we learn more about Mass Poetry’s partners throughout the region. This week we’re hearing from Meg O’Brien, the Interim Co-Director of Education at Huntington Theatre Company.
10+ Questions! is a series in which we catch up with poets who have been featured in our programming. In this installment, we hear from Ben Berman, who recently led our 2018 Professional Development Summer Seminar.