María Magdalena

Spencer Reece
I was alone. The moon fondled me. Was thrilled to be fondled. I ached in the arches of my feet. I was wrong— About much.
from the book Acts / Farrar, Straus and Giroux

What Sparks Poetry is a serialized feature that explores experiences and ideas that spark the writing of new poems.

In Ecopoetry Now, invited poets engage in an ecopoetic conversation across borders. In poems and poetics statements, their work describes important local differences, including bioregion and language, as well as a shared concern for the Earth. We hope to highlight poetry’s integral role in creating and sustaining a broadly ecological imagination that is most alive when biologically, culturally, and linguistically diverse.

Liza Katz Duncan on "The Uncles"
Photo: Liza Katz Duncan
Asiya Wadud
my mind makes for me marrow or filigree the intricacies delivered by the minute the marrow creates and feeds a steady stream both a summer and a selfless season
Liza Katz Duncan
This was their home to claim, not mine. Home to them was a dead end and a guardrail or fence, then water.
Lisa Ampleman
Each imagined child is a talisman, Catholic scapular rubbing your neck, piece of felt you must keep in good repair. No, not that easy—they're the shrieks on the wind, a playground a half mile away and cradled in the valley's acoustics.
Omotara James
Ruth, first confessor of my small secrets and trespasses. Ruth, second carrier of my burdens. Ruth, who demonstrated her worth by protecting mine. My breath so steady in her arms. Ruth, who chased after that half-hardened girl with the bloody rock, sharpened by her own hand.
Danielle Vogel
What is time when the body can hold the experience of another's living? In what time does healing occur?

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