Portside

When a loan officer turned down the poet’s request, she sent him this poem. He changed his mind. Happy Mother’s Day.

California poet Dorothy Barresi nails a certain candidate on the campaign trail: "tight tense talk & leering merit of American man" and guess who she means.

Even when April showers pour in California, as poet Diane Moomey reflects, the true issue is how long will the water last and for whom?

Where is Home, asks the young immigrant poet who is uprooted, transplanted, partly assimilated as he searches for a sturdy identity.

Is this the country where George Washington slept? Mississippi poet Philip C Kolin has his doubts.

The Kansas poet H. C. Palmer, a battalion surgeon in the American War in Vietnam, addresses the effects of trauma on our war veterans.

Approaching the 50th anniversary of MLK’s murder, California poet henry 7 reneau, jr., writes, “There’s a sickness in people”—Malice…Greed…Denial—“in opposition to…common sense.” Not too late to do something about it.

With current media celebrating the role of the soldier, US Army veteran/poet Roy J. Adams offers an ironic antidote.

Poet Dan Vera adds fine-tuned anti-imperial politics to everything you need to know about bananas—and banana republics—from A to Z.

How bad is bad? asks the poet Jennifer Michael Hecht, in this wrenching ballad of worse to worst.