Every 15th of the month: new deadlines, new contests, and new opportunities for your voice to find the world. The next six weeks include: our own Palette Poetry Prize, Cave Canem’s Prize, Waxwing’s open submission, the Sewanee Writer Conference and more.
For March’s PWA, our editors sought out poems that explore that delicate, eternal subject, Spring. Featuring work from Leila Chatti in The Journal, Ruth Awad in Poem-a-Day, Dominica Phetteplace in the newest Copper Nickel, and Kate Gaskin in Thrush Poetry Journal.
“each time they wanted to believe the rose had not yet fallen / from their hands only to find it laying on the wet floor waiting for / a man to pick it up again.”
“Like we seeing in those days rain rain for days / And carrying roofs off houses, and throwing away clothes off lines, / And spoiling roads we manage force government build for us.
“I want POC to always be two steps ahead. I understand how trends and appropriation work so I want us to always to be innovating. And, of course, if we’re on the cutting edge, you can’t ignore us. We’ll refuse to not be taken seriously. “
“For a sail, I’ll varnish this elm leaf from her garden / and stroke its shroud lines with licks of cherry red.”
We’re honored to have had the chance to chat with the talented poet Sam Sax, author of two award winning collections, recipient multiple fellowships, and currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University—here’s what he has to say about his journey of becoming poet.
By Franny Choi
“Periodic” is a monthly column by poet Franny Choi. Every month, she writes a short column on the first day of her period—a check-in that might cover issues of gender, queerness, writing, health, and/or love.
“the blight it takes to crack / into a redflesh, juice splatter / at the neck and breast, thickthroated / with pulp”