“Lord, let them know the kind of love that unhinges / the brain, blesses the air with the exuberant / stupidity of mourning doves” — Matthew Olzmann . . . This poem appeared in The Swannanoa Review, Issue 1, Spring 2024. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“May they be themselves, long after we’ve stopped watching.” — Mark Jarman . . . This poem appeared in Bone Fires by Mark Jarman, published by Sarabande Books, 2011. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Be still sometimes. / Be still sometimes.” — Rose Cook . . . This poem appeared in Notes From a Bright Field by Rose Cook, published by Cultured Llama, 2013. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“It’s like the place we never got to, to which I keep / arriving.” — Jacob Sheetz-Willard  . . . This poem appeared in Chestnut Review, Autumn 2024 (Volume 6, Number 2). Shared here with deep gratitude.

“They didn’t know what their wings were / for. I’ve made my life an apology ever // since.” — Sarah Brockhaus (@scbrock.bsky.social) . . . This poem appeared in American Literary Review, Spring 2025. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“each year harder to live within / each year harder to live without” — Craig Arnold . . . This poem appeared in Poetry Magazine, 2009. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Over and over / even like ever / the thrives do” — Hiram Larew . . . This poem appeared in Susurrus Issue 11, Spring 2025. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“For love to be born, a great many things // had to perish.” — K.M. Hanslik (@kmhanslik.bsky.social) . . . This poem appeared in dishsoap quarterly, 2025. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Please try to go / to hell frequently / because you will / find the light there” — Hannah Emerson . . . This poem appeared in The Kissing of Kissing by Hannah Emerson, published by Milkweed Editions, 2022. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“for no reason / hearing no voice / with no promise / praying to myself / be clear” — W.S. Merwin . . . Happy birthday, W.S. Merwin. . . . This poem appeared in The Carrier of Ladders by W.S. Merwin, published by Atheneum, 1970. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“I want. A different ending. / Or rather. A thing that doesn’t end.” — Aldo Amparán (@skygoneout.bsky.social) . . . This poem appeared in Southeast Review, Volume 39.1, 2021. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Inside my mind it is dawn. A wolf appears with a bird / in its mouth.” — Allison Seay . . . This poem appeared in To See The Queen by Allison Seay, published by Persea Books, 2013. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“I call my dead mom, and she is never / too busy to answer.” — Todd Dillard . . . This poem appeared in New Poetry Canada, 2026. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Joy is more than a pause.” — Brigit Pegeen Kelly  . . . This poem appeared in To the Place of Trumpets by Brigit Pegeen Kelly, published by Yale University Press, 1988. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Say yes to wanting to be this cat.” — Jack Ridl . . . This poem appeared in Practicing to Walk Like a Heron by Jack Ridl, published by Wayne State University Press, 2013. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“The sun rises in spite of everything / and the far cities are beautiful and bright.” — Derek Mahon

“What wind blew me / off course, took me from heart and home?” — Donika Kelly . . . This poem appeared in Sinister Wisdom, 2017. Shared here with deep gratitude.

“Everything is teetering on the edge of everything / With a polite smile.” — Charles Simic . . . This poem appeared in The Yale Review, Volume 84, No. 4, 1996. Shared here with deep gratitude.