Poetry Commons^™

For [Redacted], Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

This poem was written following the attempts of a close friend and myself to create awareness for the ongoing genocide in Tigray, Ethiopia in particular, and in reaction to activism in the age of social media in general. The digital age and related phenomena, such as hashtag activism and cancel culture, has enabled certain social justice movements to gain rapid traction while other equally worthy movements struggle to find a foothold. Simultaneously, standards of accountability and ethics continue to decline among global news media, with non-Western countries such as Ethiopia and my own home country of Sri Lanka bearing the …

Freefall In Reverse, Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

This poem was written as a direct response to the 22nd Vasquez Valarezo Award theme of "Discontentment." Breaking the noun "Discontentment" into its components parts allowed me to explore of the emotions and mental health states experienced by myself and my community during the "COVID summer" of 2020. Each of the poem's stanzas encourages readers to contemplate different emotional stages and the various coping mechanisms they may demand in order to regain a sense of control and stability. The poem also alludes to the value of a strong community during times of crisis, in particular the international student community of …

Deathtrap, Blake Traylor

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

I could have titled this one "Bad Trip in an Elevator," but that would twist the poem away from its authenticity. You'll have to trust me on this one: this happened. Not in the usual sense, but in that fiction-is-truth-in-a-funhouse-mirror, postmodern Tim O'Brien sense. And hallucinogens were not involved, nor are they encouraged or condoned. (Do with that Wretched Passive Voice what you will.)

If the word "Deathtrap" didn't amuse me so much, I really could have run with the title "Tired." Or maybe "Very Tired" would have been better. And then there are always the big-hitters: "Fatigue," "Exhaustion," "Are …

On The Rocks, Michael Grassetti

Bryant Literary Review

Upon a scoured stone, painted in soil

a bear scouts the raging river below.

Rites, Sanjana Aiyar

Bryant Literary Review

Present turns to past,

When tenses change with

Full, Caleb Lewis

Bryant Literary Review

Be the cup,

have more purpose when you're filled up.

Winter, Claudia Rosado

Bryant Literary Review

i was born on an island

and hand crafted for the sun.

Swimming Lessons, Rebecca Mear

Bryant Literary Review

It was time to learn to swim.

I Am Not A Home, Kiley Mcaleer

Bryant Literary Review

I am from many places, but none of them have ever quite been home. A mint green house where neighbors are always yelling and my dad comes to visit for a few hours every other weekend.

Sonnets In Viral Times, Sarah Kate Anderson

All Assignment Prompts

To illuminate our personal experiences during this time of sheltering-in, we will continue our investigation of sonnets as performance texts by writing and acting in our own creations. Held by the structure of the verse, we will create and perform sonnets that communicate our thoughts and feelings about life, loss, survival, resilience, and love during these unprecedented times. We will continue to lend our voices to the verse with specific concentration on embodiment, clarity, personal connection, and the merging of the emotional and intellectual through-line. This collaborative assignment has two parts: a creative writing component, and a skilled performance component.

The Car Ride Home, Jonathan Rivera

English Honors Theses

The Car Ride Home explores the coming of age of a young boy into a queer man, searching and sifting through the trauma of home life, and realizing his mother’s addiction affects more than just herself, but an entire family. This realization coincides with views of masculinity, as he carefully watches the men around him. He internalizes these depictions of masculinity when exploring his own confusion and investigation of his own sexual identity and queerness. The poetry collection is broken up into two connected parts. Part one explores the illusion of childhood and nostalgia while introducing subtle glimpses and secrets …

My Responsibility To Live, Michael Grassetti

Bryant Literary Review

I wonder what it's like

to be a man unfazed by fire?

Flashes, Lila Bovenzi

Bryant Literary Review

Maybe it's grotesque

That I think of them like flashers.

Countless Stars, Mckenna Themm

Bryant Literary Review

I still taste the golden wisps

of stardust, dancing across the midnight blue

Youth, El J. Reyes

Bryant Literary Review

A miracle crosses paths

with me, and I find myself

staring right at my youth.

The New Historian, Nilsa Laine

Bryant Literary Review

One month, we were given just one month.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Rosa Parks.

Harriet Tubman.

Not A Goodbye, Sanjana Aiyar

Bryant Literary Review

Blood flowing in your veins.

Heart beating slow.

Rx#: Sea, Mikaela Gresty

Bryant Literary Review

The ocean calls, smells,

like rosé aged with salt

Unlike Mike, Caleb Lewis

Bryant Literary Review

We lost time while heat simmered on the blacktop.

Our hands stunk of warm rubber

Headed Inbound, Claudia Rosado

Bryant Literary Review

i've fallen in love

with you on the train