poetry-magazineCrossingBy Ross WhiteI’m not the first man to lose his fatherslowly, not the first to wonderwhen I walk in the room if the… Related Audio LivingDeathGrowing OldHealth & IllnessSorrow & GrievingThe BodyRelationshipsFamily & Ancestors
poetry-magazineFrom “Underworlds”By Kimberly Johnson i The last time I lost you, I had turned To salt. The hospice nurses all assured An easier passing… Related Audio LivingDeathHealth & IllnessSorrow & GrievingVerse FormsSonnetGrief
poetry-magazineVoicemailBy Norla Chee miss you calling me at work leaving stupid jokes on my phone like the one about the Arapaho, the Navajo… Related Audio LivingSorrow & GrievingGrief
Callie Barr's Black BottomBy Malcolm TariqYou may find her behind Rowan Oak, a shadow of fortress where then now you find no real entry place. Social CommentariesClassRace & EthnicityLivingDeathSorrow & GrievingBlameGrief
Grief is a MouseBy Emily DickinsonGrief is a Mouse—And chooses Wainscot in the BreastFor His shy House—And baffles quest—NatureAnimalsLivingSorrow & Grieving
Zong! #24By M. NourbeSe Philipevidence issustenance issupport isthe law...Social CommentariesRace & EthnicityHistory & PoliticsLivingSorrow & Grieving
poetry-magazineMother’s MotherBy Khari Dawsonmom tells me I smell likeher Mom—something flowery and the blackened endingsof a joint.I feared her … Related Audio LivingDeathSorrow & GrievingRelationshipsFamily & Ancestors
poetry-magazineAs a child, I knew nothing about griefBy Rasaq Malik Gbolahanuntil the clock of my grandmother’s body stopped working & her remainswere lowered into the earth on… Related Audio LivingDeathSorrow & GrievingGrief
The Night Before My PiP Tribunal I See My DeadBy Karl KnightsYou left a note.‘Please don’t judge metoo harshly.’ I read itat your memorial.I hate that my voicedidn…LivingSorrow & GrievingThe BodyRelationshipsFriends & EnemiesAngerGrief
Icarus Does the DishesIt leaves a mark on me when I fallin my father's kitchen.Only a few days it's beenof lifting him up …LivingDeathHealth & IllnessSorrow & GrievingThe BodyRelationshipsFamily & Ancestors
Easter MorningBy Andrew Frisardi PRIMEAt dawn, the shapes of cypresses in fogWere fingers pointing up from graves, as if what's born…NatureLandscapes & PastoralsLivingDeathSorrow & GrievingEasterVerse FormsSonnetStanza FormsRhymed Stanza + 3 more
The Haunted HouseBy Felicia Dorothea HemansSee’st thou yon gray gleaming hall,Where the deep elm-shadows fall?Voices that have left the earth …LivingDeathSorrow & GrievingThe MindMemory & NostalgiaMythology & FolkloreGhosts & the SupernaturalHalloweenStanza FormsRhymed StanzaGrief + 4 more
Against Heaven ["I used to pray to a man-faced god"]By Kemi AlabiI used to pray to a man-faced god.Kept his whip beneath my bed.Set alarms for daybreak lashings.Pressed white cotton to the flay.Made flags of the bloodsoak.Raised them from my window.Called this worship.Dreamt heaven a jury small as a countywhere nobody...Social CommentariesRace & EthnicityReligionFaith & DoubtLivingLife ChoicesSorrow & GrievingThe Mind
Common Creeping Thyme (Serpillum à serpendo)By Norman DubieIf only it were just a lousy herbThat issued feeble tendrils slowly, now and thenRelinquishing some …LivingHealth & IllnessSorrow & GrievingThe BodyRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsAnxiety & Insecurity
Here I AmBy Lev RubinsteinTranslated By Tatiana Tulchinsky & Philip Metres 1 Now here I am! 2 So… 3 So here I am… 4 (Where have you been? We’d given up all hope…) 5 So… 6 So …Social CommentariesWar & ConflictLivingSorrow & GrievingThe MindDoubt & ContemplationMemory & Nostalgia
The World Grows Blackthorn WallsBy Sholeh WolpéTall, stiff and spiny.Try to make it to the other sideand risk savage thorns.We who left home in our…Social CommentariesWar & ConflictLivingComing of AgeSorrow & GrievingYouth
The TraditionBy Jericho BrownAster. Nasturtium. Delphinium. We thoughtFingers in dirt meant it was our dirt, learningNames in heat…NatureTrees & FlowersSocial CommentariesRace & EthnicityLivingSorrow & GrievingDisappointmentGrief
Meditations in an EmergencyBy Cameron Awkward-RichI wake up & it breaks my heart. I draw the blinds & the thrill of rain breaks my heart. I go outside…Social CommentariesLivingSorrow & GrievingTechniquesImageryTypes/ModesProse PoemMelancholy & Despair
The Dead DozensBy Saeed JonesYour grief is so heavy,when we lowered the coffin,all the pallbearers fell in too.Your grief is so heavy…LivingDeathSorrow & GrievingRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsGrief
After the 1916 FilmBy Karisma PriceThe Realization of a Negro's Ambition requires melatonin & the soft dying body of a monkey face orchid.The brilliant strangeness of watching everyone not you grow comfortable with themselves.Trying to rehabilitate one or multiple racists.Learning death does not fear you.I...Social CommentariesRace & EthnicityLivingSorrow & GrievingGrief