Kitchen, West-Facing Window by Jackie Sherbow
To be happy / is an effort—you know this / about me.” — Jackie Sherbow
Somehow We Survive by Dennis Brutus
“But somehow we survive / severance, deprivation, loss.” — Dennis Brutus
Watching My Friend Pretend Her Heart Is Not Breaking by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
“How dense it is, / how it carries inside it the memory of collapse. / How difficult it is to move then. / How impossible to believe that anything / could lift that weight.” — Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
At the Church Door by Louis Simpson
“So I opened the door, / and she said, “It jumped off.” / We stood looking around.” — Louis Simpson
Ode to Buttoning and Unbuttoning My Shirt by Ross Gay
“we practice / like this sliding the bones home.” — Ross Gay
Telling My Father by James Crews
“Out late was all he said. And then smiled, / rubbing the small of my back through the robe / for a while,” — James Crews
Elegy by Aracelis Girmay
“This is the only kingdom. / The kingdom of touching; / the touches of the disappearing, things.” — Aracelis Girmay
Lines Composed While Watching My Mother Buy Tomatoes by Bee Morris
“Good morning, my sense of taste & wonder. / Today I feel like pineapples on sale.” – Bee Morris
You, who carry daylight on your face by Major Jackson
“You, who carry daylight on your face / the best of us all, the sky is lust” – Major Jackson