‘A need becomes a needle if we let it.’ — Isabelle Baafi (Isabelle Baafi) #mypoetrybookshelf

my favorite poem to read at the end of summer

One more poem by Dorianne Laux, this one about limb difference

James Tate

Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language. —Lucille Clifton

‘each season the lizard switcheroo’ — Caleb Parkin #mypoetrybookshelf

I think about this poem all the time

Linda Gregg

Write into the honey. ... Write into the rain. —Rick Barot

A weekend of mind bending creativity coming up courtesy of Winchester Poetry

As for many poets uneasy in their class consciousness, Tony Harrison’s brilliant controversial long poem V. (1985) blew me away when I first read it. But his short lyrics were sharp, wise and deeply moving too, cut from lived life. Saddened to hear the great man has passed. RIP.

Send us something for our Document Folio by Sept. 30th. If you have a piece that doesn't quite fit with the theme, we're also accepting general submissions. kenyonreview.org/submit/

—Franny Choi

Over 160 calls for literary competitions & submissions including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography, & more - contests, literary journals, residencies, bursaries etc - open or with deadlines in October 2025. Please share & best of luck! thisiswordbox.com/wordbox-blog/w…

I read every poem in the October issue of POETRY magazine, and this one by Courtney Kampa, from her posthumous collection, A Bright and Borrowed Light, is unquestionably my favourite. What a nuanced piece, what a poet she was, what a terrible loss to the literary community.

This ‘flash’ by Krasznahorkai is so teachable. A maestro of temporal fugues and forked tongues, K runs the gamut in form/genre, often mixing or shifting pieces into larger works. Neologisms, “petcocks,” as rendered by ottilie mulzet @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social! Also: the way he works two-sides of tenses!

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and this poem from my last collection Panic Response engages with that theme. It remembers a teacher called Avril Brown who was very kind to me and who deserves to keep shining.

“You renounced the world so it wouldn’t leave first.” A poem by Richard Siken.

‘It’s later than you thought, and what remains / but this?’ — Anthony Dunn #mypoetrybookshelf