Sample Poetry
We’re looking for poetry—usually narrative but always accessible—that invites us into your confidence and leads us to revelation. Here are a few recently published poems and the qualities of each that caught our eye.
More of This, Please
April 2022Sernaker transforms the common trope of remembering a writing teacher into a litany of gratitude for graces large and small. The poem shifts from slyly observed everyday delights to an earnest wonder at how fleeting life can feel.
Steady Daylight
November 2021Bathanti’s eulogy disguised as a description of heaven is lively, almost manic, though its implicit grief helps keep the poem from becoming saccharine. Everyone so lovingly imagined is, unlike the speaker, dead, and his loss grows palpable by the end.
Love Poem
October 2020Janae’s snapshot of life in Brooklyn during the early pandemic lockdown captures so much in its details, from the speaker’s clear affection for their community to the heavy toll of systemic racism. It balances personal experience and cultural commentary well.
Click here to review our submission guidelines and submit online.
Give in to the temptation. We love getting mail.
Write Us A Letter!