"I first became fascinated with the extinction of this Libyan flower in a Catullus seminar. Popular in cooking and medicine, silphium possibly had, like its cousin the wild carrot, abortifacient properties, and might have been used as birth control. (The poet Khaled Mattawa tells me silphium is still a popular symbol in Libya, particularly with pharmacies.) Overwhelmed by current extinctions, perhaps I found it easier to address an ancient one."
A.E. Stallings on "Extinction, Laserpicium" |
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"Listening for Ms. Lucille"
"No one writes like Lucille Clifton, and yet, if it were possible to open a voice, like a suitcase, to see what it carries inside, I believe that within the voices of many contemporary U.S. poets are the poems of Lucille Clifton. There is the ferocity of her clear sight. There is the constellatory thinking where every thing is kin."
via THE PARIS REVIEW |
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Poetry Daily stands with the Black community.
We oppose racism, oppression, and police brutality.
We will continue to amplify diverse voices in the poetry world.
Black Lives Matter. |
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What Sparks Poetry:
Jennifer Atkinson on "Local History"
The island I called Hag Island in this poem isn’t, after the ten or so years since I wrote 'Local History,' an island anymore, not even at full high tide. What was island has become something more like a hump in the marsh. The salt brook that runs through has shallowed out and shifted. Everyday erosion and hurricane winds will do that." |
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