Before Your Arrival
By Ellen Haganthe ones who brought your father here, come. Bring
with them whole almonds, dried berries & clementines
wrapped in cloth. Their clothes & smart shoes too.
Search Results
Loss is an art, traversing one world to the next
By Purvi ShahThe mehndi is leaving my hands,
brown swirls dissolving into brown skin.
Somewhere you are traveling
Making History
By Marilyn NelsonSomebody took a picture of a class
standing in line to get polio shots,
and published it in the Weekly Reader.
I Will Not
By Kathy Engelwrite about the killing of Troy Davis or
the years he claimed innocence so many times
the words fell from his mouth like drops of honey.
Let Daylight Come (Little Rock, circa 2008)
By Antoinette BrimLet the moon untangle itself
from the clothesline, as coming daylight
diminishes its lamp to memory.
War Story
By Claire ZoghbHe’s put the war out of his mind. Shelling and murdered relatives behind him.
Groundwork
By M.J. IuppaThe fence that wasn't a barrier, that didn't hold
anything back or up, but was the grid over the scene of
smoke rising, smoldering from September
Poets Against the War
By Susan BrennanWe stand at the Capitol
seized in snapshots
of curious tourists
Sunday Afternoon as Oil Pours into the Gulf
By Elliott batTzedekAcross a small suburban lawn
a very large man is riding
a very large tractor mower