N/A – I don’t speak the language. I am bilingual (Spanish), but I am not pretending to know French or Persian.
0/5 – This does not qualify as writing.
1/5 – The bar is in hell.
2/5 – Barely considered poetry.
3/5 – It is poetry. We are not enemies.
4/5 – I enjoyed this.
5/5 – Etched onto my soul permanently.
Individually
"Special Field Orders, No. 15" — Taylor Johnson [1/5]
This poem arrived with footnotes spiritually attached. It feels like it wants tenure. I wanted a pulse; it handed me a syllabus.
"One Ever Feels" — Taylor Johnson [1/5]
The abstraction is so committed it’s basically in a long-term relationship with itself. I kept knocking on the glass asking for emotion. It waved back.
"I Am Not Separate from the Likeness" — Taylor Johnson [1/5]
Profundity cosplay. All aura, no artery.
"Wildlife" — Ellen Bass [1/5]
This poem scheduled its own epiphany and catered the revelation. I want to trip into meaning. Not RSVP to it.
"Trying to Sext My Partner, Who Replies ‘I Can’t Get My Camera to Work’" — Kelli Russell Agodon [1/5]
It’s quirky. It knows it’s quirky. It has already imagined the applause. Meanwhile I’m waiting for the emotional risk to log in.
"I Want It to Be Winter All the Time" — Timothy Liu [1/5]
Velvet melancholy. Designer sadness. A mood board of longing. No mess allowed.
"Love Letters" — Timothy Liu [1/5]
Confession with a ring light. Everything polished. Nothing bleeding.
"Colophon I" — Sylvie Kandé [N/A]
French. I speak Spanish, not French. I will not pretend to spiritually Duolingo my way through it.
"L'œuf et la pierre" — Sylvie Kandé [N/A]
Same situation. If it were in Spanish we’d be having a different conversation. It is not. I abstain with dignity.
“Say Word?” — CM Burroughs [1/5]
Six scarves of abstraction in July. I admire the layering. I cannot breathe.
“What They Gon Say When” — CM Burroughs [1/5]
This poem said “density.” It meant it. I brought emotional curiosity. It brought encryption.
“Radio” — CM Burroughs [1/5]
Signal lost. Static performing urgency.
“Switch/Gate” — CM Burroughs [1/5]
Fragmented like it owes fragmentation money.
“In Defense of Gold” — José Olivarez [1/5]
lowercase as destiny. concept doing cardio. poem standing there.
“Anxiety Sculpture: Wallet with a Mouth” — José Olivarez [1/5]
Metaphor stacked on metaphor like it’s trying to reach the ceiling. The ladder wobbles.
"Three of Us" — Katana Smith [2/5]
There’s something here. It just refuses to fully arrive. Like a thought you almost articulate and then don’t.
“Shitty Boyfriend” — Katana Smith [2/5]
Anger: present. Nuance: in another room. I wanted scalpel; I got hammer.
“Coming Out” — Caleb Braun [1/5]
Title promises tectonic shift. Poem delivers recap.
“Domesticity” — Catherine Pierce [2/5]
Yes, the house is suffocating. We’ve met. I needed a window cracked.
“Meet Zoom AI Companion” — Catherine Pierce [1/5]
Concept: strong. Execution: still buffering.
"In the Woods All Animals Are Large" — Catherine Pierce [2/5]
Mythic ambition. Fog machine stuck on high.
"Green" — Davis McCombs [1/5]
Symbolism so determined it forgets to feel.
“Fourteen Lines About Birds” — Mairead Small Staid [2/5]
They flutter. They do not ascend.
"Having Given Birth, the Atheist Reconsiders" — Mairead Small Staid [1/5]
The title built a cathedral. The poem brought folding chairs.
“A Lump of Pure Sound” — Mairead Small Staid [1/5]
Experimental in the way a group project is experimental.
“Capilano” — Rick Barot [1/5]
Exquisite museum lighting. Do not touch the emotion.
“Cities” — Rick Barot [1/5]
Architecturally impressive. Spiritually vacant.
"Late-Stage Capitalism in My Kitchen" — Jill McDonough [2/5]
The joke lands. Then explains itself. Then explains itself explaining itself.
“Now You Are Like a God” — Jill McDonough [1/5]
Grandiosity without gravity.
"How to Play FIGHT!" — Craig Morgan Teicher [2/5]
Instructions unclear. Feelings disconnected.
“How to Play THIS GAME” — Craig Morgan Teicher [3/5]
Okay. There’s charm. I see the vision. We’re not enemies.
“How to Play RUN!” — Craig Morgan Teicher [3/5]
Finally some momentum. Still chaotic, but at least alive.
“To Someone Who’s Heard ‘I Love You’ Too Many Times” — Asa Drake [1/5]
Sentiment reheated. No new seasoning.
"Xibalbá :: Rebirth" — Felicia Zamora [1/5]
Myth-body-mortality fusion reactor. I respect the voltage. I miss the heartbeat.
“Eyeless in Gaza” — Edward Salem [1/5]
Intellectual flex. Emotional shrug.
"Love Poems" — Edward Salem [2/5]
There are feelings somewhere in here. They are wearing camouflage.
"Submissive" — Edward Salem [1/5]
Syntax wrestling itself.
"Corps Étranger" — Edward Salem [1/5]
Layered like lasagna. Tastes like theory.
"Green Spiderweb" — Edward Salem [1/5]
So intricate. So distant.
"The Afterlife of Angels" — Sherod Santos [1/5]
Heavenly ambition. Earthly confusion.
"Elegy for the Deathless Gods" — Sherod Santos [1/5]
Elegy for clarity.
"Falling Out of Fate" — Sherod Santos [1/5]
Fell out of emotional orbit.
"Compote, Katabasis" — José Ramirez-Garcia [1/5]
Wordplay doing gymnastics. Meaning sprained an ankle.
"Fatemeh" — Fakemen Sham [N/A]
Originally in Persian. I am bilingual, but Persian is not one of the lanes I drive in.
"Meriç" — Fakemen Sham [N/A]
Again, Language barrier detected.
"Poem and Stone" — Fakemen Sham [N/A]
Respectfully outside my linguistic jurisdiction.
"Translation" — Fakemen Sham [N/A]
Irony noted. Still abstaining.
"Umbilical" — Sharon Olds [1/5]
I expected devastation. I received careful construction.
"When I Ran" — Sharon Olds [2/5]
Movement present. Impact muted.
"J Walking Through the Alphabet" — Julie Ezelle Patton [0/5]
Conceptual art wearing a poetry nametag. I did not RSVP.
Legendary Boston punk guitarist, Rick Barton (The Outlets / Dropkick Murphys / Continental) has a new solo album, Nowhere Man, out on October 20th. The album is not your usual punk’n’roll but old school rock and roll infused country. Check out the advance tracks on BandCamp.
https://rickbarton.bandcamp.com/album/nowhere-man
Hello, is the fourth (or fifth?) full-length album by New England based Continental. Fronted by Boston punk legend, Rick Barton, along with his brother, David Alex Barton, formerly of The Outlets. Rick was a founding member of the Dropkick Murphy, playing guitar on their legendary albums, Do or Die, and, The Gangs All Here. Like The Outlets, Continental is a family affair as Rick is joined by son…
