Tag: replays

REVIEW: SWEET, YOUNG, AND WORRIED – BLYTHE BAIRD (BUTTON POETRY)

Baird truly pours her heart onto each page, and it can be felt beating in every single word. – Isabella Ciraco

REVIEW: SYMMETRY OF FISH – SU CHO (PENGUIN BOOKS)

Su Cho’s The Symmetry of Fish is a summon into experience, adventure, loss, sadness, pain and enlightenment. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: URBANSHEE BY SIAARA FREEMAN (BUTTON POETRY)

Siaara Freeman shrieks and wails, but she also knows when to pull back, when to whisper and when to let the blank space reverberate like the ghost of a storm – Ronnie K. Stephens

THE STUDY OF HUMAN LIFE – JOSHUA BENNETT (PENGUIN POETS)

Bennett has established himself as an intensely patient and deliberate writer capable of upending genre as seamlessly as he upends our understanding of the world. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REPLAYS: FEEL ALRIGHT BY KRIIISPY

This year I been moving different
People acting mad funny – Peter griffin
People shooting for the stars
When they should’ve just stayed wishing
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: ICU BY COCO JONES

You
Yes you
I need you
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: BET BY RUSS

Bet
I’m over here just matching my energy
You sigh in relief
But there ain’t no relief in me
– Reggie Johnson

TPQ20 – S4EP2: COURTNEY FAYE TAYLOR

Join Chris of The Poetry Question in conversation with Courtney Faye Taylor, author of Concentrate (Graywolf Press) and winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!

REPLAYS: MIXY BY QUAVO, TAKEOFF & SUMMER WALKER

I ain’t mixy
If my actions change
Adjusting to your nonsense
Now all of sudden I’m acting strange
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: RESET BY NAV & BRYSON TILLER

Overdue for a reset
Been climbing mountains and mountains
But I haven’t peaked yet
Still gotta eat yet
– Reggie Johnson

TPQ20 Logo in TPQ Green with a Microphone in the middle

TPQ20 – SAIDA AGOSTINI BOSTIC

Join Chris in a sit down with Saida Agostini Bostic, author of Let the Dead In (Alan Squire Publishing), about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!

REPLAYS: WHO’S GONNA LOVE YOU TONIGHT BY SNAKEHIPS & TINASHE

Who’s gonna love you
If you can’t love yourself
Because the actions that you did
Were bad for my mental health
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: OUTSIDE BY BRYSON TILLER

Luckily I clean it up well
Yeah prepare for the tide
Not a stain on me
We take off on our ride
– Reggie Johnson

TPQ20 Logo in TPQ Green with a Microphone in the middle

TPQ20: S3EP14 – SANDRA CISNEROS

Join Chris in a sit-down with the legendary Sandra Cisneros, author of Woman Without Shame (Alfred A. Knopf), about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!

REVIEW: A SHIVER IN THE LEAVES – LUTHER HUGHES (BOA EDITIONS)

His use of structure, rhythm and extended metaphor are among the best, and his particular utilization of the crow throughout A Shiver in the Leaves sets this debut apart as one of the most layered, complex collections of the year. – Ronnie K. Stephens

TALK TO ME: NOLCHA FOX

I love putting odd images together, playing with alternate definitions of words, twisting the end. My adult me is the one who figures out where to submit the glorious mess I make of a poem. – Nolcha Fox

REPLAYS: TOXIC BY YG

Dramamine because I’m sick of you
When patience ran thin
Where was thick for you?
What didn’t click for you?
– Reggie Johnson

TPQ20 Logo in TPQ Green with a Microphone in the middle

TPQ20: S3EP11 – H. MELT

Join Chris in a sit down with H. MELT, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!

REVIEW: LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE – AUSTIN DAVIS (OUTCAST PRESS)

It’s a testament to all of us holding depression and joy in both hands, to everyone that has ever felt their world could end before the sun goes down. – Caitie L. Young

REVIEW: SO, STRANGER – TOPAZ WINTERS (BUTTON POETRY)

Winters offers a layered and thoughtful critique of the immigrant experience in America, the nuances of her relationship with her father and how borders operate in our lives. – Ronnie K. Stephens

SPEAK FREELY: MEANING AND METAPHOR IN RACHEL MCKIBBENS’ “THE WIDOWER”

Rachel McKibbens “The Widower” captures students because it’s visceral, emotional, and refuses to be ignored. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: DIARIES OF A TERRORIST – CHRISTOPHER SOTO (COPPER CANYON PRESS)

Soto’s poems are meant to be rough, triggering at times, and cut straight to the point. Readers can’t help but understand the message, empathize, and feel like we’re supposed to fix things ourselves.

REPLAYS: THE SIGN BY LIZZO

Hey how you doing?
Are you getting tired yet?
I might forgive you
But I never forget
– Reggie Johnson

REVIEW: LET THE DEAD IN – SAIDA AGOSTINI (ALAN SQUIRE PUBLISHING)

The language, lyrically dispensed in its distinct style, portrays bravery and reveals a poet whose voice is both an ache and a cure. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: TIME IS A MOTHER – OCEAN VUONG (PENGUIN PRESS)

Vuong uses structure to further disrupt linear fluidity. His poems frequently utilize a style of enjambment that eschews natural speech, presenting fragments that time and again force the reader forward. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: ALL THE BLOOD INVOLVED IN LOVE (HAYMARKET BOOKS)

Maya Marshall’s debut interrogates the current sociopolitical nature and its threat to reproductive rights, choice, and Blackness. – Caitie L. Young

REPLAYS: BREAK MY SOUL BY BEYONCÉ

They don’t like us outside
But now we ain’t gonna be inside
From the inside, I can see your insides
Looks like y’all don’t like yourself inside
y’all should’ve kept your opinions inside
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: SURPRISE BY CHLÖE BAILEY

Not into too many surprises
Unless it’s a special occasion
And whenever I’m with you
It’s a cause for a celebration
– Reggie Johnson

REVIEW: ALL THE FLOWERS KNEELING – PAUL TRAN (PENGUIN POETS)

Paul Tran’s long-awaited debut collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, is a fierce reminder that Tran is one of the most talented and visceral poets writing in America today. – Ronnie K. Stephens

RELEASE DAY: HALF-BRED – ANTHONY SALANDY

Order your copy of A.R. Salandy’s Half-Bred! Only 100 copies available!

REPLAYS: BLU MOON – THEY.

It happens every blue moon
When it aligns, we eclipse
I love everything about you
Fingertips to your lips
– Reggie Johnson

SPEAK FREELY: MENTAL HEALTH AND THE POETICS OF COLLECTIVE HEALING

Discussing mental health in the classroom can be incredibly daunting, especially as educators face public criticism and accusations of indoctrinating students. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REPLAYS: WAVES – RUSS

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and I just need to breathe

Inhale exhale put my mind at ease
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: THERAPY MUSIC BY LOGIC & RUSS

The way the chips have fallen
Lays simple and plain
I have a duality of someone’s success is being someone else’s pain
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: HONEST BY JUSTIN BIEBER & DON TOLIVER

Gotta be 
Honest
My attitude
The fondest 
Holding back?
Nothing’s promised
Sleeping on me
I’m an alarmist 
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: SAY MY NAME – FIVIO FOREIGN, QUEEN NAIJA & COI LERAY

Don’t give me material
If you’re reading this it’s too late 
Don’t end up becoming one of my mistakes
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: NAIL TECH – JACK HARLOW

At the end of the day
We ain’t seeing eye to eye
I swear I don’t see you crossing t’s
And I don’t see you dotting I’s
This only a percentage of this income
But we ain’t talking pies 
She can hit that 3.14 stance 
And I ain’t talking pi’s 
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: UP AT NIGHT BY KEHLANI & JUSTIN BIEBER

We can’t control the games people play
We just hope we don’t get played
And the sad part is when I did
At first I would’ve stayed
Then later I prayed
Prayed that I never be someone else’s prey
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: WE GOIN’ UP BY NICKI MINAJ & FIVIO FOREIGN

Check my words 
Check the diction
Best believe
Don’t want no friction

– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: FAIR – NORMANI

77 days into this year and I believe I’m making progress
Things have been a hard pill to swallow
However I managed to digest
Recycling old recounts and in the end I just digress
Told myself to focus more and worry less
Will lead to more success
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: NATURALLY – TINASHE

Discussing you only as nouns
When the actions made you a verb
No review of you in my book
I’ll just remember you as blurb
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: HRS & HRS – MUNI LONG

Who knows how one’s body could have
All the answers to our questions
Thank you for your blessings
– Reggie Johnson

REPLAYS: EAZY – THE GAME & KANYE WEST

“They wanted to say my life was a wrap
So I started to rap
I was the gift of many Christmases
Wish I could take my presence back”
– Reggie Johnson