Tag Archives: National Poetry Month

Ode to an Avocado I slice into your thick outer huskthe silver blade gistens as I pierce your skingreen flesh with slight yellow tingemeet my thumb and forefingernot mushy almost too firmI must hold you firmly slice deeply.My bowl of … Continue reading →

Business A diamond. Broken hand.Blood pours from its nails.A face, scratched, cut, looks up.Truncheons smash its eyes.Lids split open. Unable to see.Diamonds drop. Unlined hands.To a store on the coast.A couple kisses each other.Claims the diamond from a box.A light … Continue reading →

Expedition What I’m learning about losing my mother is how everything’s wrinkle deep,each fold a wave. Open-eyed expedition into the creases of blurry waters. It’s not like diving, second-skinned, heavy with oxygen and flippers.More like hold your breath, hug a … Continue reading →

Child, today you are angular mantistorn webclatter of bats Becomeflutter of leaves trilling one toneless crescendosway of tall grass lifting visual songbrook’s jabbering psalm,bright mica Copyright 2023 Paula Schultz Paula Schulz lives and writes in Slinger, Wisconsin, with her husband, … Continue reading →

To Ezra Pound I wish to swing by the fluff of your beard,smear your face with lavender oil, andnest in the hole of your throat I seethrough that unbuttoned shirt. May I please excavate each crease in yourbrow to know … Continue reading →

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years. 10 years of highlighting poets from around the world each April for National Poetry Month (or should we call it International Poetry Month?). That amounts to 300 poems. Or will by the … Continue reading →

The tenth annual 30 for 30 Poetry Celebration, sponsored by Potomac Review, will once again take place this year on mikemaggio.net This year’s challenge is as follows: Write a poem in which everything you want to say is expressed solely … Continue reading →

None of This Exists Except Absence This is not a real road, this pavement, but still fictional traffic roars by, windows cranked down, imaginary music spilling out, bass thumping in bone marrow like the beat of an external heart—songs that … Continue reading →

Cathy Hailey, this year’s 30 for 30 judge has selected Susan Schied as this year’s winner. Judge’s Statement I enjoyed the diverse approaches poets took to meet Mike’s challenge, some providing more evidence of the collaging technique within the poem … Continue reading →

And now a poem from our judge: Listening to Trees    I In April’s final week, a flourish  of green stippling fills spaces  held by sky, thickening leafscape,  deepening hues forming forest  understory. Canopy trees call my  name, beckon me … Continue reading →