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1. Letter from the Editors

Dear Readers,

Our prose series continues this week with "Jacqueline Osherow: An Interview," by Malachi Black, from the winter issue of Able Muse:

"An obsession, a suspicion, a likeness, a connection, a mystery, an inconsistency, a failing, an injustice, a loss, a glimpse, a change—any of these—if it holds on to me long enough, might make me want to write a poem. If there's anything 'typical' it's the tenacity of the thing, its unwillingness to let me go. Writing this (I have a tendency to reach for the nearest Biblical allusion) I'm immediately put in mind of Jacob, saying to his adversary/angel, 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.' I was named for my grandfather, Jacob, and have, despite his obvious underhandedness, always pitied my Biblical namesake, the way he had to work so hard for every blessing. Who knows? Maybe I experience a poem as an angel with whom I have to wrestle in the hope of that ever-elusive blessing. Except, in my case, it's the angel who won't let me go.''

Look for it here...

Enjoy this week's poems!

Warmest regards,

Don Selby & Diane Boller

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2. Sponsor Messages

 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)
17th annual free contest sponsored by Winning Writers. $2,250 in cash prizes, including a top prize of $1,000. Submit one humor poem online by April 1. Your poem may have up to 250 lines. No fee to enter. Both published and unpublished work accepted. All entries that win cash prizes will be published on WinningWriters.com. Final judge: Jendi Reiter. Winning Writers is one of "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest). See guidelines, past winners, and enter online via Submittable at winningwriters.com/wergle

 Vermont College of Fine Arts MFAs in Writing
Vermont College of Fine Arts offers a traditinal low-residency MFA in Writing program—now celebrating its 35th year—along with a residential MFA in Writing & Publishing program.

 Instant Messages
Instant Messages is a new kind of writing, a mash-up of straightforward and accessible poetry, koan-like brain teasers, the delicate observations of Haiku, surprise one-liners, daily mumbling, text-based art, and aphorisms of penetrating insight. All wrapped together in a common theme: things and experience are “messages,” where meaning awaits. Follow on Instagram!

“Bite-sized wisdom on an invisible stick” —Billy Collins

"Wonderful, surprising, often profound—made me daydream.” —XJ Kennedy

 Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference
Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference, June 1-7, 2018—Specializing in the literary translation of poetry and prose. Award-winning translators Kazim Ali, Susan Bernofsky, Mónica de la Torre, Bill Johnston, and Sora Kim-Russellwill offer introductory and advanced workshops along with an inspiring schedule of readings and lectures all in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains. See application details at
www.middlebury.edu/blwc/bltc.

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3. Poetry News Links

News and reviews from around the web, updated daily:

• Leanne O'Sullivan's A Quarter of an Hour reviewed by John McAuliffe. (The Irish Times)
• Rebecca Foust introduces "Prepositional," by Lorna Knowles Blake. (Women's Voices for Change)
• "A Blind Publisher, Poet and Link to the Lower East Side’s Cultural History" - M. H. Miller profiles Steve Cannon, founder of the arts organization, A Gathering of the Tribes. (The New York Times)
• Don’t Call Us Dead, by Danez Smith, reviewed by Sandeep Parmar. (The Guardian)
• Terrance Hayes introduces a poem by Kazuko Shiraishi. (The New York Times)
• Michael Blanding talks with Dennis McCarthy about A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels, by George North: A Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare's Plays, by Dennis McCarthy and June Schlueter. (The New York Times)
• David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet, by Thomas Dilworth, reviewed by Kevin McMahon. (Los Angeles Review of Books)
• And more...

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4. New Arrivals

These new arrivals are available for purchase via Poetry Daily/Amazon.com.

• Black Bone: 25 Years of the Affrilachian Poets, Bianca Lynne Spriggs,‎ Jeremy Paden, ed.s (University Press of Kentucky)
• My American Night, Christopher P. Collins (University of Georgia Press)
• Estuaries of the Mind, Laverne Frith (Authorspress)
• This Dream the World: New and Selected Poems, Carolyne Wright (Lost Horse Press)
• Approaching the Fields, Chanda Feldman (Louisiana State University Press)
• Tramp, Joelle Biele (Louisiana State University Press)
• Bridled, Amy Meng (Pleiades Press)
• The Darkness Call: Essays, Gary Fincke (Pleiades Press)
• Invisible, J.R. Solonche (Five Oaks Press)
• Won't Be Long: Poems Short, Poems Shorter, Poems Shortest, J.R. Solonche (Deerbrook Editions)
• Beautiful Day, J.R. Solonche (Deerbrook Editions)

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5. This Week’s Featured Poets

The work of the following poets will appear as Today's Poem on the days indicated:

Monday - Jacqueline Osherow
Tuesday - Ellen Doré Watson
Wednesday - David Yezzi
Thursday - Susan Stewart
Friday - Robert Cording
Saturday - R.T. Smith
Sunday - Katie Palazzola

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6. Featured Poets February 5, 2018 - February 11, 2018

These and other past featured poets may be found in our archive:

Monday - Alicia Wright
Tuesday - Nausheen Eusuf
Wednesday - Carl Phillips
Thursday - Claire Schwartz
Friday - Kai Carlson Wee
Saturday - Myriam Fraga / tr. Chloe Hill
Sunday - Stevie Howell

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7. Last Year’s Featured Poets

These poems will be retired from our archive during the coming week.

Knuts Skujenieks / tr. Bitite Vinklers, "At the Edge of the World"
Joseph O. Legaspi, "Grace"
Michael Miller, "Decades Ago"
Joan Naviyuk Kane, "Iridin"
Natalie Scenters-Zapico, "One Body"
Medbh McGuckian, "Who Is Your City?"
Joseph Millar, "The Poetry-Body"

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8. Poem From Last Year

Decades Ago

Shoveling the snow
As if I were shoveling
Death away, my gloved hands
Gripping the handle firmly,
I clear the driveway
Bordered by tall pines,
Bending, lifting,
Seeking perfection,
An old man young with desire,
Thinking of the woman
I met decades ago
Who waits in the house.

 

Michael Miller
Passager
Winter 2017

Copyright © 2017 by Michael Miller
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission