Jennifer Hernandez Chrysalis Stretched in his twin bed, my youngest son, eleven, lies wrapped in pale green. The rest of us awake for hours. But it’s summer, nowhere urgent to be. I let him sleep. This journey is not…
Browsing: Poetry
Bethany Jarmul A Moment, A Memory I’m sitting on a porch chair on our back deck, which is covered with autumn leaves. Near my feet, my daughter crawls amongst them—shuffle, crinkle, shuffle, crinkle. The wind whips my hair, swirls…
Kimberly Ramos Reflection, But Shuffled When night slips into my bed and once again / the world is a place with no edges / I remember you are my first homeland / You, Missouri girl of cattle and birthing…
Abby E. Murray Heirloom I’m driving while talking to my eight-year-old about how even good people can be jerks sometimes and there’s a pause then she asks from her booster seat in the back but how come you’ve never…
Poetry Prompts by Anne Graue Anne Graue’s April Poem-a-Day Challenge Yes, it’s National Poetry Month again, and poets everywhere are thinking about writing a poem a day to celebrate while others are compiling lists of prompts to share with those…
Sherine Gilmour Tired Parent Wanting Poem I want to be in a hot tub filled with macaroni and cheese. I want to be sleeping alone in a large bed. I want to be surfing the Internet for new shoes,…
You thought you heard a whale, a wail, a wailing. Assumed a woman’s voice, a stance to view the mess. —Alise Alouisi, “I Am Not Your Mother” The poems in the MOTHERS RESPOND folio refuse to look away from landscapes…
Angelique Zobitz A woman walks into the woods—seeking strength and she finds a metaphor in the woods a brown twig snaps, motes dance dead things give way to new now never—not—husk or shell she’ll stretch so far that she…
Lesley Wheeler Permit for Demolition The front porch collapsed in a slow-clap of bricks. Next morning, a bulldozer coaxed the tin roof down. Hoses settled billows of particles—wood splinters, mold, plaster, clay baked a hundred and thirty years ago.…
Sarah Sassoon Tunnels that Lie Under My House I am mother of boys mother of prayers for everyone to live in a house where mothers sleep at night I know of words that dig deep tunnels disturbing deep dreams…