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May 2021

Cover artist: Jade Pilgrom

The oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world.

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  • January Gill O’Neil
  • Elena Ramirez-Gorski
  • Tarik Dobbs
  • Emily Gallacher Viall
  • Jennifer Huang
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Illustrated green kudzu leaves and vines form P O E T R Y letters in a grid format on a yellow background.
From this Issue
    • poem

      Appeared in Poetry Magazine temple

      By Ashlee Haze
      the pastor says
      we are having church
      and I begin to wonder what it means to
      possess a thing you cannot touch

      I caught the holy ghost once
      after chasing him in the back pews
      held onto him long enough to convince my mother of salvation
      then...

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    • poem

      Appeared in Poetry Magazine How to decide which human gets your last ventilator

      By Emily Gallacher Viall

      First, study lungs. See lungs in trees, bronchial the limbs, packed cells cycling carbon dioxide. Recall the lesson of two students standing shoulder to shoulder, shuffling in tandem to demonstrate the lining of the lung
      clung to the wall of the...

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    • poem

      Appeared in Poetry Magazine The Wolf

      By Imru al-Qays
      How many times have I set forth
      with a bent back
      and a waterskin slung on my shoulder?
      How many valleys have I crossed—
      lands barren as an ass’s belly
      where the wolf howls
      in its dire need?
      Once when I heard that howl
      I offered a reply:
      “We’re...

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Table of Contents

POEMS
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