Aubade
“the sway of her sweetness— / cassia and camel’s thorn—allow her root and labor—provident / place of first fruit—”
Contest Winner
Cherry-Tipped Triptych
“stay beautiful, skin rabbits, / luster in the hollowness. look / how the wolves circle, wanting, sifting what’s left / by the wound-winds / whispering”
Wave
“From above, everything looks delicate. / From above, / it looks like love: the light, / the peach cheek of the flower,”
2025-26 Rejected Poetry Prize: Winners & Finalists
Please join us in congratulating these remarkable poets. Winners were selected by Mai Der Vang.
Vanitas: Half Skull, Orchid, Gecko
“Even our orchid chokes on / the affection—overwatered, coffee grounds for soil. / The flies connive among the fruit.”
Daphne, 1958
“at her waist, of silk more than wood. / the rush whisper”
Septuagenarian Abecedarian Love Song
By Tina Blade
“Superimpose over all of this a photo of our younger selves— / tight smiles and a greedy earnestness that nearly // undid us—”
2025 Love & Eros Prize: Winners & Finalists
Please join us in congratulating these remarkable poets. Winners were selected by Sun Yung Shin.
A SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS WITH ■ AS PROXY
“■² opens me up to dine w/ wolves, ■³ is a phlebotomist ■⁴ a carnivorous flower / any further ■’s are ≥ gods”