Soot by Kaveh Akbar
“When I fell to earth // I knew the way—through the soot, into the leaves.” — Kaveh Akbar
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
You, who carry daylight on your face by Major Jackson
“the syntax / of your smiles is revealed only to little children” — Major Jackson
The View from the Roof, Waverly Place by Cornelius Eady
“They have / A quilt of lives spread below them, / The cool thrill of looking down.” — Cornelius Eady
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
Heaven Be A Xanax by Morgan Parker
“And I will kneel to pray / And I will address the prayer to myself / And I will be allowed” — Morgan Parker
Suppose You Were A Moray Eel by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
“Let us wait here in this coral cave and count the number of smelt that swim / by. Let them go, all of them.” — Aimee Nezhukumatathil
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
Colosseum by Jericho Brown
“Because I am what gladiators call / A man in love—love / Being any reminder we survived.” — Jericho Brown
How the Past Comes Back by Natasha Trethewey
“the neglected hydrangea / endlessly blossoming– / year after year / each bloom a blue refrain” — Natasha Trethewey