Leaf by Seán Hewitt
"For woods are forms of grief / grown from the earth. For they creak / with the weight of it."
Performance After the End of the World by Talin Tahajian
"I’ve never been good / at caring very much about language except / when it matters the most."
The Light Continues by Linda Gregg
"When the sun / is gone, the light continues / high up in the sky for a while. / When I return, the moon is there. / Like a changing of the guard."
I Am Not Ready To Die Yet by Aracelis Girmay
"I want to live longer. / I want to love you longer, say it again, / I want to love you longer / & sing that song / again."
Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo
"Breathe in, knowing we are made of / All this, and breathe, knowing / We are truly blessed
What’s Broken by Dorianne Laux
"Last summer’s / pot of parsley and mint, white root / shooting like streamers through the cracks."
Happiness by Raymond Carver
"Such beauty that for a minute / death and ambition, even love, / doesn't enter into this."
Addendum by Diane Ackerman
"I've got lots of sensibility and no common sense; / isn't it better to lie low while the universe bombards
Clear Night by Charles Wright
"I want to be bruised by God. / I want to be strung up in a strong light and singled out. / I want to be stretched, like music wrung from a dropped seed."