Kick in the Jaw by Dan Albergotti Not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, my wife Amy had a sign made that hangs outside our house. It’s blue with yellow capitalized sans serif letters and it says “Be Brave Like Ukraine.” She had it made to show support for the Ukrainians but the message isn’t for … Continue reading Being Brave
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Another Poem to Love The Most Wonderful Time of the Year "A Taste of New Orleans in Haiku" by Mona Lisa Saloy I admit, I’ve had a hard time of it the last month or so. This is usually my favorite holiday season, Mardi Gras, and even though I’ve lived far away from it this … Continue reading The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Reclamation Part 1
The story of Robert Frost’s appearance at John F Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 goes something like this. Frost had endorsed Kennedy during his presidential run, and Kennedy had used an adapted form of the final stanza of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” as part of his stump speech. He reportedly would close it … Continue reading Reclamation Part 1
Sitting for a picture
from Unshuttered by Patricia Smith One of the first poems I ever published, way back when I was in high school, was about photographs. That might have been the title. I don’t exactly remember and fortunately for me, that poem has been lost to the passing of time. (Young people will never know how wonderful … Continue reading Sitting for a picture
Anchors Away
It’s 2004 and we’re living in San Francisco thanks to the generosity of the Stegner Fellowship and Stanford University but while the stipend is generous this is also San Francisco and even if it’s San Francisco during the brief lull in insane housing prices between the last dot-com bust and the next dotcom boom the … Continue reading Anchors Away
So Long and Thanks For All the Fish
No I'm not going anywhere. But the Vogons are coming.I want to say I was in 7th grade when I first read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. That would have been around 1981-2 I guess. What I know certainly was that one of my friends read it first and passed it along to me, … Continue reading So Long and Thanks For All the Fish
It's Hurricane Season Y'all
"Problems with Hurricanes" by Victor Hernández CruzSometime in the beginning of my second-grade year in Mandeville Elementary, I got my first hurricane tracking map, which is funny because Houston (where I was born) wasn’t exactly immune to tropical weather, and the little towns in Brazoria County where I’d mostly lived until then were not far … Continue reading It's Hurricane Season Y'all
I'm asking for money
Not for me though.As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m one of the poetry editors at The Rumpus. Senior Poetry Editor, though that’s because I’ve been there the longest, not because I have any special authority. In fact, I’m the last remaining editor of the original core when the site went live in January of … Continue reading I'm asking for money
It's that day
"Eating a Muffuletta in Des Moines" by meThis isn’t a real post, not the way I think of the writing I’m doing in this space. It’s more an excuse to post some pictures of something and also talk about a poem I wrote a while back. I’ve got a real post in the works right … Continue reading It's that day
Backwards Poets Write Inverse
"Dad Joke" by Amorak HueyMy twin daughters have, at the tender age of nine, mastered the exaggerated exhaustion response to dad jokes. Sagan’s is sardonic, a “nice dad joke” combined with an eye roll, while Tesla usually comes back with an elongated “daaaaaa-aaaad.” Sometimes they laugh first, if they’re not hungry or in a huge … Continue reading Backwards Poets Write Inverse
Another Poem to Love 