Banjo Be
By Maurya Kerr
“banjo be deeply known by its own / before bootlegged for mass / production, instruction manual, smash & grab of its soul.”
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Sharper Than
“Honed a kind of malingering, for most of that stint – / part-response to my farm-crazed aunt’s / unsparing miserableness.”
Girl Werewolf
By Emma Buckley
“The wolf-girl is content that she prayed so hard for sharp teeth, / as the washing machines spin like the records used to do, / and the streetlights buzz like door-to-door salesman or houseflies”
Lover of Faith, Lover of Marble
“before the insects trill their morning song / after the sisters snore their night prayers / we each take up cloth and name”
If These Covers Could Talk #8
In If These Covers Could Talk, poets interview the visual artists whose works grace their book covers. The result is an engaging discussion of process, vision, and projects. This series is a celebration of collaboration—here, we champion the fruitful conversations taking place both on and behind the cover.
This month, poet Dimitri Reyes talked to artist Samuel Miranda about the cover of Papi Pichón (Get Fresh Books Publishing, 2023).
I Call the Thing That Was Before Us Lucy Because It Bore Her Shape
“even as you pray what’s between you / and disaster is more than tape / and padded cups.”
The Black Birthing Room
“why am i thinking about doing my hair before i see to this fever / straightening myself up before i treat this sickness”
Caravaggio Fever Dream
“I regret / that I never mentioned you in my sleep, never thought / that you might want me to leave the porch light on / for a thousand saints to welcome you to my home.”
Dream
By Amy Thatcher
They lifted me / into a sitting position, / fed me like an infant, / easy to love.