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A child’s growing awareness of his father’s dementia is the focus of this poem. Older now, the poet offers a tenderness that evaded him in youth.

Who says that fences are part of neighborliness? Darrel Alejandro Holnes’ poem responds to this idea of Robert Frost’s with artistry, verve, and critique.

Guest The Valley. His debut essay collection Before the Earth Devours Us will be published by Split/Lip Press in late 2021. He is the Interviews Editor for the EcoTheo Review, an Assistant Poetry Editor for AGNI, and a regular reviews contributor for Heavy Feather Review. He lives in Austin, Texas. Transcript music: “Praise the Rain” by Gautam Srikishan] Pádraig Ó Tuama: My name is Pádraig Ó Tuama, and for years I had a recurring dream. The dream was always that I was about to walk ...

between behemoth granite shafts, shove my body by their force, leave me roadside and wandering fields. Little is funny when you’re Chicana and walking a Civil War site not meant for walking. Regardless, I ask park rangers and guides for stories on Mexican soldiers, receive shrugs. No evidence in statues or statistics. In the cemetery, not one Spanish name. I’m alone in the wine shop. It’s the same in the post office, the market, the antique shop with KKK books on display. In the peach orc...

Transcript Pádraig Ó Tuama: My name is Pádraig Ó Tuama. And when I was a teenager, late one evening I saw my father come into the kitchen, grab a slice of bread, and eat it. I think his blood sugar had dropped. And there was so much about that moment that struck me. I was a teenager with angst about myself and everybody around me, and noticing a moment of vulnerability in somebody else struck me. And I think that was telling me I needed to be a poet, because I had to do something with what ...

jouissance, chipotles in the chocolate. Consider the uvular awakenings Your name spun through the reel, wound up from the bass of me. How I want to say it, and hear my own, again. for Matthew” music: “Ashed to Air” by Gautam Srikishan] I read this poem because it so immediately appealed to me with gorgeous words. I mean, I love the word “delicious.” I love the word “gorgeous.” I love the word “knuckle.” But I think this poem is a poem — perhaps — where the poet, Vievee Fr...

Drogheda knowing as I do that my attention has no agency, none at all. Nor my rage.” [ music: “What Did You Not Hear” by Gautam Srikishan] So this poem is a study and a story of Eavan Boland’s grandmother. In 1904, the grandmother had gone on a trip to Dublin from Drogheda. That’s a journey of about 50 miles. Drogheda is a large town about 50 miles north of Dublin. And when the grandmother had got home to Drogheda after having been in Dublin, she found an eviction notice on her door. ...

Half of this poem is about feeling torn between two cultures. The other half heals the tear, seeing that a life can be a living bridge between the tensions of the poet’s identities.

Guest Lorna Goodison is one of the Caribbeans most distinguished contemporary poets. Her work appears in the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces and her many honors include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, Americas Region. She is the author of numerous books of poetry, including Supplying Salt and Light, Controlling the Silver, Transcript Pádraig Ó Tuama: My name is Pádraig Ó Tuama, and one of the things I love about poetry is reading poetry from different parts of the world. So often,...

Winter Words Author Series: Billy Collins Join us for a conversation that is sure to be witty, humorous, quirky, tender, and profound with Billy Collins who will discuss his latest book of poetry “Whale Day” with OnBeing’s Pádraig Ó Tuama. We understand the event registration form may be glitchy. If you experience any issues at all, please reach out to [email protected]. Dubbed “the most popular poet in America” by the New York Times Billy Collins is famous for conversational, wi...