"Today’s poem charmed me immediately with its imagination and its restraint," host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shared in today's episode of The Slowdown, number 1406. "It’s also a poem I want to read again as soon as I finish it." Read "Paperweight" by Ryan Teitman: bit.ly/4oZE6fH

No matter what, an hour spent talking shit in the barbershop is alway gonna lift me up. It’s also always mad insightful, for better or worse. & when it’s worse, man…

"Today’s poem is so relatable, because the speaker is doing what I so often do: watching videos on the internet in the middle of the night," says host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social in episode 1375. Read “Dear Absent," by @poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4nUopG3

"Today’s poem speaks to the ways we can care for one another, and of how profound and meaningful even the smallest gestures are,” shares host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social in today’s episode. Read “Lotioning My Mother’s Back” by Ama Codjoe: bit.ly/3KCwVKR 📖: @milkweededitions.bsky.social

Just got to email zero. It may never happen again this year, & that’ll have to do.

Fit check for the first day, year 9 in Memphis

Today’s poem is selected by Emily Skaja (@emilyskaja.bsky.social‬) as part of the 20th anniversary of Read A Little Poetry. It appeared in The Master Letters by Lucie Brock-Broido, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Shared here with deep gratitude.

My favorite poet showing out, showing her whole heart❤️ @emilyskaja.bsky.social

I’ve worn my Blowout Comb shirt in NYC, Detroit, & Chicago. But in the last 10 minutes 4 people have stopped me to say “Digable Planets changed my life.” Which is to say, Memphis is a real ass music town & people forget to say that part. When I say people I mean media. & people who don’t go outside.

Only just now discovering this Lucille Clifton poem dedicated to Clark Kent.

Apparently I can only be a morning writer on Fridays, camped out in front of the living room windows at 6 am with a draft & Gatorade bribes for the garbage men who forget our bins whenever I sleep in. Which is honestly some 40-year-old shit I never imagined for myself. #writers

September 30!

This poem by @aireadee.bsky.social lifted me this morning on its Icarus wings. "Light refracts my name in dialect only moths comprehend."

Wanda Coleman

Three striking new poems by Ellen Bass: "Call," "Oh honey, oh baby," and "Homage to the Dead Man," with audio. https://www.terrain.org/2025/poetry/ellen-bass-2/ #poetry #poems #poet #fear #despair #praise #heart #death #family

LA/BURBANK! I could not be more excited to talk to aja monet about her latest poetry book, FLORIDA WATER! Come chat with us at Buena Vista Library on July 1, 7pm! burbank.libnet.info/event/13500932

I'm a contributor to Breaking Atoms' "Elements: Searching For DOOM" episode. You can listen to it here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Poetry Daily is trying to add 1000 subscribers to their poem-a-day newsletter this month—it’s free, it’s a diverse reading experience, it’s an email you’ll actually be happy to see. 💫 @poetrydaily.bsky.social Sign up here:

My debut poetry collection is now available for pre-order from @matchfactoryeds.bsky.social, a great new press. I'm thrilled to be in their first round of releases! Check out all their books, and here's the link to mine if you're interested:

I’ve got news! My third poetry collection, DEAR MOTHERSHIP, is forthcoming from Ecco in 2026. I wrote this book through grief, lapses in faith, career highs, bouts of disillusionment with the world, & a hard-fought rediscovery of joy. I’m so excited to share it with you!

I'm elated to share the cover for my next poetry collection, It's Important I Remember, due out 2/15/2026 from Northwestern University Press and now available to pre-order. I pray that these words move you; may they be part of a movement toward one another and away from tyranny.

My essay “After the Rooster Crows” is out today at @literaryhub.bsky.social. It’s about exile, poetry, and what I’ve brought with me. Thank you for reading. lithub.com/after-the-ro...

How moved to find my sad spontaneous overflow at home in the wonderful Georgia Review, alongside work from writers I admire. Here's my girl, whew, here she is, friends, be gentle, snapped w/ a few other poems that caught my eye. What an issue! 🌾 Grateful for poetry. #nationalpoetrymonth

She doesn’t miss @emilyskaja.bsky.social

I’ve decided to think of April as National Write Some Shit Month. Worked on an essay today. Might mess around and write a prose poem tomorrow and a grant narrative Thursday. Get real noncommittal with my dailyness this year.

Headwear brought to you by Ron Mitchell, who has been known to sneak a just because gift into a box of Southern Indiana Reviews when I least expect it🙌🏾

From Danielle Cadena Deulen's book, Desire Museum. #poem #poetry #books #writing

Don't forget this is the last week of our fiction contest! Submissions close this Friday, so don't hesitate to submit! #pinch #thepinch #litmag #literarymagazine #literaryjournal #contest #writing #fiction

From Sam Sax's book, Pig: bookshop.org/a/862/978166... #poem #poetry #books #writing

Today's Featured Poem: "Wilding" by Shara McCallum, from the Fall 2024 edition of Pleiades Magazine (@pleiadesmag.bsky.social). Read here: poems.com/poem/wilding/

The Diggin' In The Crates Crew released their debut album ‘D.I.T.C.’ 25 years ago on February 22, 2000 | Visit album.ink/DITCditc to listen to the album + read our tribute by Ben Pedroche

That feeling when you finish commenting on early revisions of a student’s thesis you know will evolve into an important book. & in the not too distant future! I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Read “Joined To All The Living There Is Hope,” a poem by Jonathan Fink from the collection Don’t Do It, We Love You, My Heart.

"It feels like a miracle, and it’s why, I think, we turn to poems: Because they often say the unsayable,” shares guest host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social in today’s episode. Read “Statement of Teaching Philosophy” by @keithleonardpoet.bsky.social: bit.ly/4jOr7en

2025: A Metaphor

Always felt like Costco was for families & offices or buying a TV through a parent’s account. Welp, looks like we’ll have access to all the bulk peanut butter & flat screens we want with no delay. Just picked up a membership & dropped our recurring Target, Amazon/Whole foods orders. Good riddance—

At the turn of the year, Poetry Northwest generously offered me the opportunity to highlight three poems from my forthcoming collection, IT'S IMPORTANT I REMEMBER. You can read an intro, the title poem and a second poem here. My profound gratitude goes to Keetje Kuipers and the entire staff.

Dorianne Laux w/ the plainspoken elegance

No poem is just its autobiographical content. No poem is just its embroidery of language. As a reader, I favor poems that have multiple textures, moving freely from plain-speech, to silken [...] But all poetic language must be soaked in the oil of human feeling. —Henri Cole

What a nice surprise to be on this terrific list of poets & poems with my favorite @emilyskaja.bsky.social ✨✨ lithub.com/49-contempor...

Too far, Big Bourbon. Too far.

Damn. Not Nikki. Rest in eternal cool. open.spotify.com/track/68p0F8...

hi, i’ve got a poem about god and grief up on the Best American Poetry blog today, and I’m so grateful to Terence Winch for making it his pick of the week

An abundance of Black Santas🎅🏾

Aria Aber, "Waiting for Your Call" "My phone notes littered with lines like *Beauty will not save you. Or: *mouthwash, yogurt, cilantro.*"

Starter Pack for independent bookshops some of who also run lots of local events go.bsky.app/DopYboe

Friday pick-me-up: Liz Egan goes long on Ada Limón and NASA in this @nytimes.com Culture Desk audio segment 🚀

Brilliant--& good for ending essays, too, of course. I'll be integrating this into a revision/endings class next week: thank you, @emilyskaja.bsky.social (When I'm struggling with an ending, I go for a walk and hope to see something new that has nothing to do with the essay I've been writing)