Portside

This poem is about flowers. Or maybe not only about flowers. Or maybe not. But Cortney Lamar Charleston's poem will make you think twice or even more times if it's about flowers. Or not.

Haecceity is derived from a medieval philosophical word meaning the "property" of something that makes it unique to itself--in the case of Joshua Clover's poem, the meaning of the word and principle of "Revolution."

An antidote to anti-immigrant sentiment, Seattle poet Jed Myers generously welcomes newcomers to this nation of immigrants, offering empathy and greeting from our ancestors: "what we’ve secured/only a few breaths before..."

The theme of Indiana poet Brian Brodeur's poem is the loss caused by the slave trade: lost history, lost identity, and the disbelief that follows its discovery.

After the murders, poet Anita Barrows addresses this elegy to a survivor, Diamond Lavish Reynolds, asking "how can we make your tears not/another deleted narrative?"

Emmett Till, a 14-year old murdered in Money, Mississippi on August 28, 1955, would be celebrating his 75th birthday on Tuesday, July 25. The writer Philip C. Kolin, like Till a native of Chicago, and professor English in Mississippi, has recently published a book, Emmett Till in Different States: Poems (Third World Press) that traces both the historical significance and contemporary legacy of Till’s brief life.

As the crisis about the use of police power intensifies, the theme of Dwayne Woods's poem pleads for taking care in its most literal sense.

David Hernandez, poet from southern California, brings us to a moment of tragedy--seemingly random, seemingly fated--from the Iraq War.

New York poet Carolyn Raphael offers a not-so subtle warning to those summer readers who bake too long on the sand.

Alabama poet Chris Emslie writes: "This is a poem in response to [the] shooting in Orlando….a poem that…expresses… gratitude to be both queer and alive. I dedicate it to the shooter…in the spirit of maintaining dignity in the face of hatred."