Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize, Winner (2017) Death, of course. Having no God. Sunday afternoons, New England falls. Sleet storms like the one that dented the new car and traumatized the dog, who never liked loud noise; who, like me when I was young, couldn’t stomach fireworks. They made us cry—that…
Year: 2017
“New Year on Pleasure Island” By Brian Sneeden (2017)
Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize, Second Place (2017) What I did not know to make made itself in vestigial hours between two o’clock and dawn, when the shapes of birds stitch together in my mind, and a single cicada peels the air. Each letter I write returns to water. I start…
“La Fusión” By Gabriela García Sánchez (2017)
It was reverence I felt then, and I did not cower as it vibrated through me. El ritmo bonded us by our pies, our caderas, ventilating the air with scales speeding by. The beats amplified between our pechos, whistling for our cuerpos to collide. So I took a breath that…
Slam at the Benton: “Food Stamps” by Jacob Lowell (2017)
Food Stamps by Jacob Lowell When I was 5 years old I would sit with my mother and cut out the coupons in the newspaper, all spread out on the dining room table. They tell me I couldn’t remember being on food stamps; I was only a kid. But I…
Slam at the Benton: “Hardwood Laxatives” by Jacob Nelson (2017)
Hardwood Laxatives by Jacob Nelson I think HGTV is trying to redefine what a home is After realizing that at 3000 Sq ft two bedrooms And a home office No one under 35 has a home Open floorplans and hardwood are timeless So they switched greatrooms to microhomes and studios….
Slam at the Benton: “tops of trees” by Jillian Cundari (2017)
tops of trees by Jillian Cundari today for the first time in a long time I saw the tops of trees. I rolled to a near stop in drive at the top of the hill to see the trees and farms rising in heaps and the bubbling people, pushing through…
Slam at the Benton: “Splinter People” by Kelly Stoldt (2017)
Splinter People by Kelly Stoldt My mother has announced her worry That living in a single dorm room is bad for me. She asks if I’ve been socializing If I’ve made friends Leaves out “since the last time.” I tell her I’ve gotten really close with my mattress (It goes…
Slam at the Benton: “The Anthem” by Mary Kozan (2017)
The Anthem by Mary Kozan i. The bungalow colony was in its heydey. Blondes unfurled Their legs on plastic deck chairs, laughing like advertisements Over bottles of Coca-Cola. Their children pissed in the pool and shrieked With joy. Tits sagged in one-piece floral bathing suits. My grandmother (then, in the…