TPQ20: EPISODE 22 – REAGAN MYERS
December 15, 2021
Chris sits down for a one-on-one with Reagan Myers, author of Afterwards (Button Poetry), to talk about passions, process, pitfalls, poetry… and YA lit!
thepoetryquestion
TPQ20: EPISODE 16 – TAYLOR BYAS
November 24, 2021
Chris sits down for a one-on-one conversation with Taylor Byas, author of Bloodwarm (Variant Lit), for a conversation about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
REVIEW: EVERY JOURNAL IS A PLAGUE JOURNAL – RAYE HENDRIX (BOTTLECAP PRESS)
November 12, 2021
“Hendrix does not shy away from the complex, daily horrors that were ushered in, and the microscopic to multidimensional trauma that came from hearing the city cheer nightly, like a ritual or like war”. – Rachael Crosbie
REPLAYS: OVER – DRAKE
August 16, 2021
The song served as a reintroduction for my love for writing. For the first time, I was able to combine my love for both music and writing together.
REPLAYS: CAN’T TOUCH THIS – MC HAMMER
August 9, 2021
My love for music dates back to me being a kid, where whenever my mom needed to occupy my time while she was busy, she would turn on the music videos.
EVOLUTION OF TPQ
July 1, 2021
We are working not only to continue to provide quality reviews, but to expand and produce more original content/columns. In order to do so, it’s time for us to take a small hiatus to prepare for the next step in our evolution.
REVIEW: APPLE SKIN – KELSIE COLCLOUGH (SWORD & KETTLE / CUP & DAGGER).
June 24, 2021
All in all, it’s a one for one exchange of the original myth, albeit more fleshed out, modern, and quietly queer. – Lannie Stabile
REVIEW: LOVE MOST OF YOU TOO – DUSTIN BROOKSHIRE (HARBOR EDITIONS)
June 23, 2021
This chapbook showcases a voice reclaiming words meant to hurt, detailing the traits wanted in a lover, and reminding the reader “not to accept what’s in front of you / at face value.”
REPLAYS: SEEING GREEN BY NICKI MINAJ, DRAKE, & LIL’ WAYNE
May 18, 2021
I been doing this here since Wayne’s dedication
I been doing this here, hear the dedication
I’ve been doing this hair, na look at the transformation
Went bald on everyone
And look how things shaping up
If you ain’t growing with me
Then you had to be cut
REVIEW: DESCANSOS – KATHERINE OSBORNE (SALO PRESS)
May 14, 2021
Animals burn. Volcanos erupt. We aren’t told the story necessarily as it is; we are told how it feels to live and remember it.
“MY MFA ONLY MADE MY BLENDER WHIR FASTER”: TALK TO ME: CHRISTINE SLOAN STODDARD
May 13, 2021
I used discarded camera and computer parts to print into clay tablets. I bleached chicken bones, spray-painted various objects, drew large-scale oil pastel scenery, and cut up old books all for art installations.
REPLAYS: “LOVE LINE” – SHIFT K3Y & TINASHE
May 4, 2021
This week’s #REPLAYS takes on “Love Line,” the newest track from British producer Shift K3Y, featuring Tinashe.
REVIEW: GOD’S BOY – ANDREW HAHN (SIBLING RIVALRY PRESS)
May 3, 2021
If this is what it means to be godly, why would anyone stay? And if you are already considered to be straying, why not have some fun with it?
BROWN STUDY: “HOME-GOING CELEBRATION” BY KHALISA RAE
April 29, 2021
“Home-Going Celebration” is a sly poem that bubbles with contradictions. An elegy rooted in mourning, the language pops with the dizzy rush of one sip too many.
“THE READER THINKS THEY’RE IN ON THE JOKE”. – TALK TO ME: SHAWN BERMAN
April 28, 2021
I’m inspired a lot by stand-up comedians, so a lot of my work is me pretending I’m on stage telling a joke, trying to draw the audience in. – Shawn Berman
“TODAY WE ARE A WHITE-WING DOVE, TOMORROW WE ARE A SPIRIT” TALK TO ME: KHALISA RAE
April 22, 2021
Because so many false narratives are being told about Black bodies, it is so crucial to tell the truth about what happens to us and the crimes that are committed against us. I think the true art is sharing the horror in a way that isn’t just trauma porn, but it’s art for a purpose.
“L3” (LENNY Season Three).
April 15, 2021
Alternate lives or alternate realities? See how things unfold in “L3” (#LENNY Season Three).
View the full campaign and donate here:
https://t.co/3ogDyK4DP1?amp=1
(L3: LENNY Season 3 will be available August 2021)
S2/EP10: Nurture.
April 15, 2021
S2/EP10: Nurture.
We are taught,
That relationships
Are for other people,
As they navigate the course
And direct the scene of our love.
Why is that?
REPLAYS: PinkPantheress – Pain
April 13, 2021
REPLAYS: PinkPantheress – Pain
And I 99.9% mean when I say
I’m glad I washed my hands of any
And everything surrounding the pain
REVIEW: HOW OFTEN I HAVE CHOSEN LOVE – XIAO YUE SHAN (FRONTIER POETRY)
April 12, 2021
REVIEW: HOW OFTEN I HAVE CHOSEN LOVE – XIAO YUE SHAN (FRONTIER POETRY)
Shan’s natural metaphors connect the experiences in this collection to a deep relationship with the physical world, grounding these stories into the earth.
CHAPBOOK CONTEST: SUBMISSIONS OPEN!
April 8, 2021
CHAPBOOK CONTEST: SUBMISSIONS OPEN!
Submit your chapbook manuscripts to The Poetry Question! Guest Judges: Sofia Fey & Chris L. Butler.
“CONFUSION, DESPAIR, OR HOPE” – TALK TO ME: JIYE LEE
April 8, 2021
“CONFUSION, DESPAIR, OR HOPE” – TALK TO ME: JIYE LEE
I hope to get the same emotions across whether that be confusion, despair, or hope to the readers and to enforce that in such a way it leaves them thinking about the poems for a while.
S2/EP9(Ω): Òleksandr aka Uri.
April 8, 2021
I’ll understand my journey
One day,
But if need be,
Or if you need me,
May resilience resound my words,
Remember these things I say:
I still miss you
And I’d kiss you
If I could…
S2/EP9(α): Aléxandros aka Uri:
April 8, 2021
Because in order to
Serve and Protect,
Our hearts,
We took advantage of someone else…
And because they haven’t noticed,
We just don’t see it yet.
REVIEW: DUNCE – MARY RUEFLE (WAVE POETRY)
April 2, 2021
REVIEW: DUNCE – MARY RUEFLE (WAVE POETRY)
The poem claims to forbid but finds that grief is not powerful enough to truly erase the names of things.
BROWN STUDY: “SELF PORTRAIT AS A MERMAID OR DEAD GIRL” – GAIA RAJAN
April 1, 2021
BROWN STUDY: “SELF PORTRAIT AS A MERMAID OR DEAD GIRL” – GAIA RAJAN
I started thinking about who owns grief, how memory and grief affect the body, and soon enough, the poem turned into an elegy for someone I’ve lost.
REVIEW: STRANGERS – ROB TAYLOR (BIBLIOASIS)
March 31, 2021
REVIEW: STRANGERS – ROB TAYLOR (BIBLIOASIS)
Even if it can be painful, love will not settle down into abstraction. It reaches its fingers into the world, pinches and pulls.
REPLAYS: MY TIME IS NOW – TONE
March 30, 2021
REPLAYS: MY TIME IS NOW – TONE
Whether it’s released during an album’s rollout, planned or unplanned, music listeners ultimately hear that the time is now.
GETTING THE GURLZ W/ SOFIA FEY & KHALISA RAE: AIREA D. MATTHEWS
March 26, 2021
GETTING THE GURLZ W/ SOFIA FEY & KHALISA RAE: AIREA D. MATTHEWS
“…in America, the plight of black womxn is fraught with neglect and abuse, where some who behold both our intellect and beauty can’t seem to assert us as either”.
S2/EP7(Ω): Ever So Lately
March 25, 2021
#LENNY – S2/EP7(Ω): Ever So Lately
A hot comb straightens my new growth.
The edges of my existence.
Though I trim the dead ends,
My mane still feels unhealthy.
Still it seeks nourishment.
Something is missing and broken.
Broke and in pain
S2/EP7(α): Ever So Lately
March 25, 2021
In that place,
Will I kneel?
Speak and sing praise to a God
I’ve felt in the past has forsaken me?
Thank them for my experience?
Tell them I now realize
I didn’t get the short end of the deal?
Had a better hand.
REPLAYS: PEACHES – JUSTIN BIEBER
March 23, 2021
REPLAYS: PEACHES – JUSTIN BIEBER
We’ll be the one Justin sang about
saying love was until the end of time.
S2/EP6(Ω): I Believe.
March 18, 2021
I believe,
The fabric of time is interwoven.
Interweaves our lives,
Through what succeeds
As it becomes entangled
With what proceeds…
The stories of our lives,
And variations of versions of me…
S2/EP6(α): I Believe…
March 18, 2021
I believe,
That the light we see,
And radio waves we receive,
Are just us…
Trying to communicate,
Simultaneously…
REVIEWS & CONVERSATIONS: BLACK WICK: SELECTED ELEGIES – SHARON KENNEDY-NOLLE (VARIANT LITERATURE)
March 17, 2021
REVIEWS & CONVERSATIONS: BLACK WICK: SELECTED ELEGIES – SHARON KENNEDY-NOLLE (VARIANT LIT)
“Utilizing heavy subject matter, vivid descriptions of the experience of losing a child are expressed. This collection of poems carries stories many of us hope never to know, but in those of us who have, seek sorely to truly discuss.”
HUSTLE & BUSINESS OF POETRY – KHALISA RAE AND SOFIA FEY
March 12, 2021
HUSTLE & BUSINESS OF POETRY – KHALISA RAE AND SOFIA FEY
Ranging from tips & tricks, to gripes, to gratitude, we have a lot to say! Welcome to the Hustle & Business of Poetry.
S2/EP5: Currently & Concurrently…
March 11, 2021
The weight of divorce,
Still wafts in the room sometimes.
Hangs on my shoulders,
Simultaneously,
It stains my new shirt with tears,
After I got dressed up just for him…
S2/EP4(α): “like treasure”.
March 4, 2021
I find comfort,
In who we are.
Similar.
Both trash…
Discarded portions,
Like undesired pieces
On pages in a bin,
Soon to be deleted,
Immediately waiting to be erased,
From Random(ly) Accessed…
Memories.
REVIEWS & CONVERSATIONS: PALM LINES – JONATHAN KOVEN (TOHO PUBLISHING)
February 24, 2021
REVIEWS & CONVERSATIONS: PALM LINES – JONATHAN KOVEN (TOHO PUBLISHING)
Since completing its pages, I daydream of skies raining amethyst and words of wisdom yelled from random apartments windows.
S2/EP2(α): Silence…
February 18, 2021
But I had to accept that
We were no longer
Only fucking.
I took days of distance,
Contemplated all my exes,
Reflected & Reminisced,
Made a few decisions
On how to measure…
Explain,
The depths of this experience
REVIEW: TRICKS OF LIGHT – THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI (GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA)
February 17, 2021
REVIEW: TRICKS OF LIGHT – THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI (GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA)
He seems to consider care to be of utmost concern, not just for family, but also for strangers.
POWER OF POETRY #128: JANE ROSENBERG LAFORGE
February 12, 2021
POWER OF POETRY #128: JANE ROSENBERG LAFORGE
Our classmates were the children of rock stars, writers, critics,visual artists, film editors and movie executives. But everyone in the neighborhood seemed famous to us, just for having been there.
#TPQ5: MIKE HICKMAN
February 12, 2021
#TPQ5: MIKE HICKMAN
What will Mike Hickman include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside!
REVIEW: LOOK LOOK LOOK – CALLISTA BUCHEN (BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS)
February 12, 2021
REVIEW: LOOK LOOK LOOK – CALLISTA BUCHEN (BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS)
There’s a sense of absence in this first section as the mother’s body becomes a singular state once again, but there’s also a slip from autonomy.
REVIEW: WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE & INK PRESS)
February 11, 2021
REVIEW: WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE & INK PRESS)
They are unafraid to show the awfulness and bitterness, old beliefs and traditions, terrible acts inflicted by the people who inhabit the snowy state.
S2/EP1: Open Book.
February 11, 2021
Random analogies and metaphors,
Simple words and phrases,
Digestible poetry…
Combo meals,
Popular for mass consumption.
I desire none of that.
REVIEW: SENTIMENTAL VIOLENCE — GABRIELLE HOGAN (GHOST CITY PRESS)
January 27, 2021
REVIEW: SENTIMENTAL VIOLENCE — GABRIELLE HOGAN (GHOST CITY PRESS)
As we all know, though, joy does not exist without violence — not for Tonya, and not for any of us.
#TPQ5: SAMUEL ADEYEMI
January 25, 2021
#TPQ5: SAMUEL ADEYEMI
What will Samuel Adeyemi include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside!
“WHICH REQUIRES ME TO BEND LANGUAGE TO MY WILL” – TALK TO ME: TAYLOR BYAS
January 21, 2021
“WHICH REQUIRES ME TO BEND LANGUAGE TO MY WILL” – TALK TO ME: TAYLOR BYAS
I absolutely code switch because there isn’t an aspect of my life that doesn’t request that sort of labor from me. It’s built into my life, and therefore it manifests in my poetry. – Taylor Byas
REVIEW: THE GULL AND THE BELL TOWER – KARI FLICKINGER (FEMME SALVÈ BOOKS/ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
November 25, 2020
REVIEW: THE GULL AND THE BELL TOWER – KARI FLICKINGER (FEMME SALVÈ BOOKS/ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
We never really escape our own disasters. In fact, “owning them is an irredeemable trait”. It’s unsettling, it’s frightening, but it does turn glass to stone. It does, however, create beauty.
REVIEW: CAPABLE MONSTERS – MARLIN M. JENKINS (BULL CITY PRESS)
September 25, 2020
REVIEW: CAPABLE MONSTERS – MARLIN M. JENKINS (BULL CITY PRESS)
What I’ve learned is that sometimes you need to crawl within your shell to gain the power to face the rest of the world, and sometimes you need a Mewtwo to get you there.
POWER OF POETRY #47: CHELSEA DINGMAN
June 25, 2019
Today, writing this in a parking lot while my son gets ready for a hockey game, I have the word “miracle” stuck in my throat. But, poetry is not the miracle. Life is. And poetry has allowed me to embrace that.
POWER OF POETRY #40: “THE MEMORY OF TRADITION” ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN
May 7, 2019
I believe the intensity of a poem, the dense nature of a line, the possibilities of syntax, and all aspects that make up a poem work together to become a fitting medium for tragedy.
REVIEW: THE SEA THAT BECKONED – ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN (PLATYPUS PRESS)
April 29, 2019
It’s the push-and-pull of one language and culture erasing the other; it’s the beauty and decay of both. It’s the changes that feel like too much change. The Sea that Beckoned is the tightrope walk between being ourselves and the self we may yet become.
POWER OF POETRY #35: “Dreams/Facts” – Matthew Mayfield
April 3, 2019
POWER OF POETRY #35: “Facts/Dreams” – Matthew Mayfield: “….I strive to be that ONE person who keeps you closer to Life and one step away from the trigger.”
POWER OF POETRY #34: “Some Slightly Connected Thoughts on Crafted Vulnerability, Stage Fright, Beauty, and Gratitude” – STEVIE EDWARDS
October 5, 2015
I am trying to write poems that stand inside of uncertainty and still find things to praise. And I don’t think it matters if I praise my sore legs that keep walking me home from work each night, or if I praise the relief of night rain in my first Carolinian July, or if I praise an idea of a home I miss, or if I praise the mild infection in my right nipple for not being cancer, or if I praise my friend who has stomach cancer but keeps living beyond the rational limits doctors have suggested—it is all praising living. It is all beholding the terrible beautiful uncertainty of being human and saying thank you. I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than gratitude, and poetry helps me to access it.