Ruth Awad Poetry Picks
It is not my aim to name the spark that makes a poem a poem, but I can show you what is wild and wandering and wondering. I hope when you read these poems, your curiosity ignites. I hope they make you look up at the world around you and seek out its tenderness. I hope they fill you with a righteous rage or become the salve you needed on a hard day. I chose these poems for their breadth and spellwork. Let them transform you, even briefly.
鈥The New Father鈥 by
鈥Recipe鈥 by听
鈥On Domesticity鈥 by
鈥Late Gothic鈥 by Esther Lin听
鈥World of Each Other鈥檚 World鈥 by
鈥Here, in a devastated land,鈥 by Anzhelina Polonskaya
鈥A Stroke / Of Dirt鈥 by
鈥Quick Thinking鈥 by
鈥Offering鈥 by Chee Brossy
鈥On the Soul鈥 by Jennifer Chang
鈥The Secret鈥 by
鈥But, Please, Not Too Soon...鈥 by
鈥September鈥 by
鈥Erase Genesis鈥 by
鈥The Federal Bureau of Missed Connections鈥 by
鈥Apology for the Time between Letters鈥 by
鈥The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire鈥 by Matthew Tuckner
鈥It鈥檚 Important I Remember That the Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself鈥鈥 by
鈥Reading Zadie Smith at Twenty-Four鈥 by Dante Di Stefano
鈥What Will You Miss about These Hard Years?鈥 by
鈥Olly Olly Oxen Free鈥 by
鈥How My Grandmother Exited the Last Harbor鈥 by
鈥O: An Elegy鈥 by
鈥I Live in the Future, My Body Lives in the Past鈥 by
鈥To an Old Lover鈥澨齜y
鈥Mollusk鈥澨齜y Toma啪 艩alamun (translated from Slovenian by Brian Henry)
鈥Diagnosis鈥澨齜y
鈥My Father鈥檚 Comb鈥 by
鈥[And, having been considered only locally a sinner]鈥 by
鈥Root Canal鈥 by
鈥Dear O鈥鈥 by
鈥The Cat's Odyssey鈥 and 鈥Editorial Efforts鈥 by
鈥Last Night I Had Such Good Dreams鈥 by
鈥All Day We鈥檝e Been Speaking in the Dark鈥 by
鈥Honeymooning鈥 by
鈥Starlite Motel鈥 by
鈥淭he Beautiful and Glorious鈥 by 听
鈥淣umb Aubade with Bloodhound鈥 by
鈥淪elf-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird鈥 by Ayokunle Falomo
鈥凌别惫别濒补迟颈辞苍鈥 by
鈥淲e Are Soft Between Hours鈥 by
鈥渙de to the luna moth & my psychiatrist, who warns me lithium will shorten my lifespan鈥 by听Anthony Thomas Lombardi
鈥淢y People鈥 by
鈥El Chacal鈥 by听Jose Hernandez Diaz
鈥Ode to Damage鈥 by听
鈥A Ghazal for Black Boys鈥 by听Rosalind Guy
鈥Reading 'What a Waste' to College Boys鈥 by听
鈥Touch Cave鈥 by听
鈥Family with Dreams Cut Out鈥 by听
鈥Everything Is on Fire鈥 by听
鈥The Groomsman鈥 by听Alexa Patrick
鈥Portrait of My Sister 91社区 to Shoplift鈥 by听Chelsea Wagenaar
鈥Night thinks it鈥檚 crying again鈥 & 鈥When Everything Is Too Much, I Praise What Didn鈥檛 Break鈥澨齜y听
鈥How to Conquer鈥 by听
鈥Autobiography via Screaming鈥 by听
鈥Light Home鈥 by听
鈥Next to the Gas Station That Sells Chicken Wings鈥 by听听&听
鈥Mercury in Cancer鈥 by听
鈥How to Let Go, or, I Smudged Lost Loves Away into the Ocean鈥 by听
鈥Wife for Scale鈥 by听
鈥Final Poem for the Bullet鈥 by听Phillip B. Williams
鈥Boundless, or On Human Complexity鈥 & 鈥淢ajor Depressive Disorder (Recurrent)鈥澨by听
鈥淏irth Ritual鈥听by听
鈥淎t Crescent Park鈥澨by听
鈥淭he Sun and Moon Began with a Mother Working鈥澨by听
鈥淧oem for Tucker Carlson's Face鈥澨齜y听Paul Guest
鈥淎 Villanelle for Jodie Foster鈥澨by听
鈥Because There Will Always Be People You Don鈥檛 Get Along With鈥澨齜y听
鈥Small Fry鈥听by听
鈥辫谤颈尘别谤鈥听by听
鈥Book of Mild Regrets鈥 by听
鈥& the white girl tells me i need to marry a Latino man so that my kids can be the world鈥 by听Em Dial
鈥淚mmigrant Elegy for 脕vila鈥 by听
鈥all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom鈥 by听
鈥Masculine Sonnet鈥 by听
鈥salat during deportation proceedings鈥 by
鈥hearsay鈥 by听
鈥淗oney鈥 by听Allison Adair
鈥淎n Accommodation鈥澨齜y听Sandra Beasley
鈥淕od Letter鈥澨齜y听CM Burroughs
鈥淢arigolds of Fire鈥澨齜y听Ama Codjoe
鈥淏uying Back-to-School Supplies鈥 by听Matthew Guenette
鈥淧rofessor Marva Stewart鈥檚 Funeral Service at Gilbert-Lambuth Chapel, Paine College鈥 by听Kamilah Aisha Moon
鈥淕ather鈥 by听Jess Smith
鈥淭he Most Important Word in This Language鈥 by听Analicia Sotelo
鈥Upon Meeting My Father for the First Time, My Mother Thinks鈥鈥 by听Bailey Cohen
鈥Motel, Oregon鈥 by听
鈥Something Quiet鈥 by听
鈥Casida of the Branches鈥 by听C. C. Reid
鈥For the Doctor's Records鈥澨齜y听Clint Smith
鈥Aubade in the Old Apartment鈥 by听
鈥Get Out of the Goddamn Car,鈥 by听Benjam铆n Naka-Hasebe Kingsley
鈥On the Haunted Hayride with Audrey鈥 by听
鈥white girl interrogates her recurring dreams鈥 by听
鈥The Earth Is Rude, Silent, Incomprehensible鈥 by听
鈥December at Faribault Prison鈥 by听
鈥Crack鈥澨齜y听
鈥Sunken Place Sestina鈥澨齜y听
鈥White Earth鈥 by听
鈥Fawn鈥澨齜y听
鈥In Praise of the Names of Things鈥澨齜y听Chelsea Wagenaar
is a Lebanese-American poet, a 2021 NEA Poetry fellow, and the author of Outside the Joy (Third Man Books, 2024) and Set to Music a Wildfire, winner of the 2016 Michael Waters Poetry Prize and the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. Alongside Rachel Mennies, she is the co-editor of The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry. She is the recipient of a 2020 and 2016 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, and she won the 2013 and 2012 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize and the 2011 Copper Nickel Poetry Contest. Her work appears in The Atlantic, AGNI, Poetry, Poem-a-Day, The Believer, The New Republic, Pleiades, The Missouri Review, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She has an MFA in poetry from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and she lives and writes in Columbus, Ohio. |