Love Poem Beginning with a Yellow Cab by José Olivarez
“when you put your hand / on my thigh it was like i knew for the first time / why god gave us thighs. why god gave us hands.” — José Olivarez
There You Are by Victoria Adukwei Bulley
“these things you do / which, although you haven’t said it yet, / say that you want to live.” — Victoria Adukwei Bulley
Red Tulips, Then Asphodel by Brenda Shaughnessy
“Did I once / feel like a tulip // bending gracefully toward its own root, its own death” — Brenda Shaughnessy
Instead, I’m Here to Tell You Very Softly by Oliver de la Paz
“it's summer again and the undulant rows / of banners break my heart every time” — Oliver de la Paz
Vespers by Derrick Austin
"Like children who rub their grimy hands over everything, / they only want to touch and be touched by grass." — Derrick Austin
The Five-Thousand-Year-Old Heart I’ve Swallowed by Jeongrye Choi
“Do the flowers bloom and fall and bloom and fall without knowing the endless loneliness of my bare feet?” — Jeongrye Choi
How the Past Comes Back by Natasha Trethewey
“the neglected hydrangea / endlessly blossoming– / year after year / each bloom a blue refrain” — Natasha Trethewey
Dorothy Wordsworth by Jennifer Chang
“I, too, have a big messy head / on a fragile stalk.” — Jennifer Chang
Postcards to the Other Brown Girl in My Weightlifting Class by Tarfia Faizullah
"I do not want / to give myself—I want to be stem, / stamen, petal, not blossom, not bloom—"
Transformation by Adam Zagajewski
"I’ve lived humbly, reading the paper, / pondering the riddle of power / and the reasons for obedience."