Hanoi Hilton
“And there is one year , thirty poems to recite, a flat metal to carve your face — I remember .”
Deluge: A Chinese Almanac
“Yet as / the tide climbed, I wondered: when the / floods arrived, would my prince be beside / me, willing to swim? Or would he, as my / mother’s bones hinted, flee?”
Prayer Circle
By Sa Whitley
“Miss Mary, she say, God is good, and Jon gonna be alright. My late Grandma / Dorothy in my dream say, Jon Boy, he alright, and her hands covered high / yellow in batter from frying us”
The Peasantry
By Weijia Pan
“I could read history from the back of your reddened skull. / You could read me directly, reflected in the eyes of passers-by.”
Featured Poetry
We are so grateful to every poet who shares their work with us—please enjoy perusing the stunning work in our poetry archive.
2024 Previously Published Poem Prize: Winners & Finalists
We are honored to share with everyone the winners and finalists of the 2024 Previously Published Poem Prize! Please join us in congratulating these remarkable poets. Winners were selected by Palette editors.
The Other Mothers
“My body reached its logical conclusion, red blood / over white feathers.”
a bird-riding grief
“a tabernacle, where memories (a) constellate, (b) dispel, tweeting for (a) healings, (b) witherings from their gods—”