Prompt: Find someone’s last words, and use that as an epigraph in a poem where “death” is not mentioned by name.
Note from the series editor, Katie Dozier: “All too often with epigraphic poems, the quote is more interesting than the poem itself. Here, the shocking last words of Frances Weller are immediately juxtaposed to the micro-memoir first line of the poem—and that brilliant contrast propels us through her life full of struggles. Instead of speculating as to her secret, Beswick explores empathy through the motion of her great-grandmother’s ever-moving hands during two world wars. Beswick’s tactile details are so well-crafted that we don’t just read her poem, we feel the heat of the iron and smell the smoke of her cigarette. The title both reveals the poem to be an extended metaphor for growth in the midst of adversity, and speaks more directly to the eventual fate of all of our secrets.”
Jeff Knight: “I have played bar band and coffeehouse gigs in Austin (including with my old band Blue Haiku), have made money busking, worked for almost ten years as a professional songwriter for an educational curriculum company, and recently signed a contract (and got a paycheck) with Fervor Records to place some country-rock songs I co-wrote. I’m just a ham-and-egger on guitar but find that writing, arranging, and performing songs is satisfying in a similar way to poetry: you mess with it and mess with it until you think it’s done and then hope it will connect with people’s hearts and heads. And sometimes it does.” (web)
Frances Klein: “There has been a lot of online discourse this week about an article in The Atlantic lamenting that students no longer come to college prepared to read full books. Although I disagree with the author’s chosen villain (she blames high school teachers) I related to the experience of having students enter creative writing classes with an expressed distaste for reading. I have been teaching creative writing to high school students for many years, and in the last five years or so I have noticed a major shift in the ‘influences’ students identify for their writing. More and more, kids who claim they want to be writers are open about disliking reading. When asked to talk about the influences on their writing, they identify TV shows, musicians, and online influencers. In real life, I try to be patient and understanding, to help guide students to texts that sparks their interest and draw them in to loving reading. This poem, however, was written from my knee jerk reaction of frustration, from the ‘what I wish I could say,’ point of view.” (web)
Jennifer Hambrick: “In my first career, I performed as a professional flutist with major orchestras and in studio recording sessions. Classical music got under my skin during my tender years through an intense study of dance, and pop radio was the soundtrack for my adolescence. That musical immersion helped prepare me for all of my work with music, including my current career as a professional singer, classical music broadcaster, multimedia producer, and cultural journalist. I don’t often write poetry about music, but I do always write poetry—whatever the theme or subject—musically, by ear. The word-rhythms and vowel and consonant sounds I hear in my mind’s ear guide me through the creation of every poem I write. In this sense, the process of writing poetry is, for me, nothing short of making music with words, and the most important ingredient in my writing process is second nature to all good musicians: listening.” (web)
Christiana Doucette: “This poem was written as my phone battery depleted last night. We are on day four of no power, post-Helene. And I am so very grateful for good neighbors and bodily safety. I think we of the South Carolina upstate, and Western North Carolina will be carrying the terror of this storm for a long long time.” (web)
Alba Payton Valencia: “I like to write poetry because it makes me feel happy and also because I like to write it with my papa. And because it makes me think of my home.”
Vince Gotera: “I play bass in the band Deja Blue and also guitar in the duo Groovy News. I’ve played in bands for several decades. Music has been a crucial theme in many of my poems, focusing most often on guitars and guitarists as well as on the act and feeling of performance.” (web)
