“For Mauna a Wākea” by Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
For Mauna a Wākea It’s been 300 days since I first laid in your armsFirst felt the chill of your kiss on my skin You brought me to the thin line between life and deathBetween… Continue Reading
“The Song of Despair” by Pablo Neruda
The Song of Despair The memory of you emerges from the night around me.The river mingles its stubborn lament with the sea. Deserted like the wharves at dawn.It is the hour of departure, oh deserted… Continue Reading
“I Ask My Mother to Sing” by Li-Young Lee
I Ask My Mother to Sing She begins, and my grandmother joins her.Mother and daughter sing like young girls.If my father were alive, he would playhis accordion and sway like a boat. I’ve never been… Continue Reading
“Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Kindness Before you know what kindness really isyou must lose things,feel the future dissolve in a momentlike salt in a weakened broth.What you held in your hand,what you counted and carefully saved,all this must go… Continue Reading
“The City” by Nathalie Handal
The City after C. P. Cavafy You tell me: I’m going to another country,another city, another body.Perhaps my heart will stay uncertain,and I will destroy my history but I am leaving.Even if on every street,… Continue Reading
“To a Cat” by Jorge Luis Borges
To a Cat Mirrors are not more silent nor the creeping dawn more secretive; in the moonlight, you are that panther we catch sight of from afar. By the inexplicable workings of a divine law,… Continue Reading
“I, Too” by Langston Hughes
I, Too I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at… Continue Reading
“Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation” by Natalie Diaz
Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation Angels don’t come to the reservation. Bats, maybe, or owls, boxy mottled things. Coyotes, too. They all mean the same thing— death.… Continue Reading
The Mark E. Smith ‘Guide to Writing’ Guide
The Mark E. Smith 'Guide to Writing' Guide The Fall, the notorious English post-punk founded in 1976, were known for their protean ways—often changing styles from album to album. (They recorded 32 studio albums over… Continue Reading
“The Wide Ocean” by Pablo Neruda
The Wide Ocean Ocean, if you were to give, a measure, a ferment, a fruit of your gifts and destructions, into my hand, I would choose your far-off repose, your contour of steel, your vigilant… Continue Reading