I Refuse to Write a Poem About Body
By Nora Hikari
“I refuse to strike matches against my body, / I refuse to match my body against the years / it is owed”
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Poem with Locked Box
“And to think these are our success stories: / the invention of violence / our people’s greatest innovation.”
Deadlines: October & November
Every middle of the month: new deadlines, new contests, and new opportunities for your voice to find the world. The next few weeks include: Palette’s Love & Eros Prize, Frontier’s Industry Prize, other great contests, and submission opportunities.
Poetry We Admire: Erosion
I tend to get nervous faced with the impulse to begin an article by tracing etymology. To frame …
Mother of Pearl
“Mother / was not the first word in my mouth. The word was baba: / meaning, father; meaning, mouth.”
Knee Length #4
By Khalisa Rae
In Knee-Length, poet and journalist Khalisa Rae navigates the nuances of an inherited conservative legacy. Pulling from memories of her religious upbringing and education, family history, and matrilineal teachings, Knee Length is a history reimagined and excavated—a rebellious relearning of desire and respectability, family and faith.
HUSBAND LIKES HER TO LEAVE FRUIT IN HER VAGINA ALL DAY SO HE CAN EAT IT LATER
“Can we ever write woman / without writing fruit? / Without food, blood-red, or cut/gash/slit / in half?”
Against Adjudication [I-II]
By Hazem Fahmy
“In another life, my / fate would be a throne of orchids, / gargantuan. Vanilla flowers would sprout wherever I walked.”
and she stepped out of the grove
By Aiya Sakr
“tell me about my birth my migration / my coming to this language not my language”