The Poem Formerly Known as the Poem Formerly Known as Stupid
“If I could, I’d be as tender with words / as with husbands & I’d hammer / out pine dining chairs into cellos”
Contest Winner
A Short History of my Gag Reflex
“I’ve been trying to whip sore / wounds into weapons, if only through language; / the tight lisp of my new name,”
The American Eel
By Mark Spero
“long and hungry, / contained, an / unbroken tube / of being.”
2025 Queer Poetry Prize: Winners & Finalists
Please join us in congratulating these remarkable poets. Winners were selected by CAConrad.
Interview with Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Judge of the 2025 Nature Poetry Prize
“Today here in March, a new study revealed we’ve lost 22% of the butterflies on this planet. I mean, we are not separate from nature so it’s crucial as human beings that we are always noticing, always observing while we have butterflies around, for example. We have everything to lose if we forget.”
My Father
“the wound across his back becomes / a mouth wide open, filled with blood, and me, / his child standing next to the body. / newly awakened”
Portrait of a Small Town Where the Flower Shop has Committed Suicide
By Eli Karren
“Our neighborhood drowns // in the violet hue of summer stolen, while evening arrives / like blueberries to concrete,”
anticipating flame
“who am I to bring the world / into our bed? If the nest comes under attack, let me / lose a feather or two in defense of what I know is true:”
2024-25 Previously Published Poem Prize: Winners & Finalists
Please join us in congratulating these remarkable poets. Winners were selected by Palette editors.