The Deal

i called the bar the poem by accident the poem's been open since 1930
Ryan Eckes
from the book Wrong Heaven Again / Birds LLC

What Sparks Poetry is a serialized feature in which we invite poets to explore experiences and ideas that spark new poems.

In our occasional series, Building Community, we spotlight connections between our work on the page and our work in the community. In each issue, we pair a poem from our featured poet with an interview that explores what poetry brings to our neighborhoods, cities, and the wider world — and what community makes possible for poetry itself.

Lloyd Wallace on What Keeps Us: Poems to Read in Community
Photo: Lloyd Wallace
Amalia Bueno
I wen look up up at da stars, and das when, inside da stars I seen all da bones
Pam Rehm
I'm bewildered by all the dollars I've spent on a life out of balance when there's all this cosmic consciousness within a kiss
C.D. Wright
Some nights We stay up passing it back and forth between us drinking deep
Yunkyo Moon-Kim
korea is an oxymoron, for when has a halving so visible been so indivisible?
Tyree Daye
the flies made a mess of our dancing the flies made a dance in our messes

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Each member of our diverse board selects poems for our daily poem feature and works with us to identify new outstanding, interesting publications for our thousands of daily readers.