One of my favorite poets; most of these are from Smoke.  Read on.

_________

APHASIA

for Honeya

After the stroke all she could say
was Venezuela, pointing to the pitcher
with its bright blue rim, her one word
command. And when she drank the clear
water in and gave the glass [...]

I picked up this book of poetry by Alessandra Lynch two summers ago on a whim, browsing through bookstore racks in Hanover, New Hampshire for something to marvel at.  I do not regret my decision.  Turns out she’s pretty awesome.

Lynch’s poems are like sparks that ignite some part of nature—its memories, colors, abstractions.  There is [...]

I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a literary journal I’ve recently discovered.  PANK is a magazine out of Michigan which publishes work that, from what I’ve read so far, is edgy and at times nothing short of bizarre.  From the website:

PANK comes from the end of the road, the edge of things, a [...]

“Because life’s too short to not spend it worrying.”

I got this book for my birthday, and just had to share it with you.  It feels all too appropriate given my mental state these last couple days.

This book (incorrectly titled in stock photos–it really does say “Disorders,” not “Illnesses”) is surprisingly thorough and informative.  DiClaudio has [...]

ALL high school students, teachers, and administrators should be aware of this program!  Former Poet Laureate Billy Collins–one of America’s most beloved, successful and accessible poets–has spearheaded Poetry 180: a poem for every day of the school year.

The basic idea is that high school students be exposed to one poem (of the 180 poems pre-selected [...]

Left-Facing Bird is a stark, strange and memorable collaborative poetry project I stumbled upon quite some time ago.  Very little is revealed about it–according to this single-page website, the project was executed by three writers (Lucas Farrell, Greg Hill Jr., and Brandon Shimoda) in Montana over a period of two days in April 2008.

LEFT-FACING BIRD
PROPER [...]