Insect Thermometer
“Earth work. Scum in clay pots. The sun booms bass clarinet. A lemon sweats its silence on the / dirt.”
California Girls
“This nation, named for the war we wage. / By morning the sun / is a red coin we could mistake / for mercy.”
Estuarial
By Kathleen Loe
“already the trees are emptying / my memories of green. / river shines the color of glare.”
A Number Is a Place
By Norman Tran
“Every 4th of a / second, a new future is born. Every 17 seconds, a future leaves behind only a scent. I / wonder what an almost future smells like. The smell of rusted incense.”
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.
2026 Rising Poet Prize: Winners & Finalists
Please join us in congratulating these incredible rising poets. Winners were selected by Xochitl-Julisa Bermjeo.
The Blue Hour
By Kuhu Joshi
“Unafraid of the street dogs’ / persistent sniffing, the wet Delhi wind, / she nuzzled their jaws in her lap and talked to them / like babies.”
梅雨季 / Plum Rain Season
By Yuhan Wu
“It is plum rain season and the air is full of things opening too quickly. / In this mumbling wetness something ripens.”