Poetry Commons^™

Diagnosis, Caroline Sinavaiana

Pacific Studies

This poem captures a moment of tense uncertainty, likely surrounding a medical diagnosis revealed by ultrasound. The natural imagery—sea of shadows, swaying grass, warring rain and wind—mirrors the speaker’s emotional turbulence. Faced with a 50/50 prognosis, they turn inward, preparing for struggle or protection by invoking ancestral strength, symbolized by “ancient arrows” and a tightened bowstring. It’s a poetic meditation on fear, resilience, and readiness in the face of potential loss.

Waimanalo Litany, Caroline Sinavaiana

Pacific Studies

This elegiac poem, “Waimanalo Litany,” written in memory of Mahealani Dudoit, is a lyrical meditation on loss, healing, and the sacred presence of place. With vivid imagery of ocean, land, and ancestral spirits, the poet weaves a prayerful plea for mercy and peace across beloved Pacific landscapes. The repeated invocations to the spirits of moana, Koʻolau, Makapuʻu, and Waimānalo evoke a sense of cultural rootedness and spiritual continuity, even amid physical pain and environmental disruption. It is both a personal tribute and a collective chant of remembrance.

My Pigeon, From The Samoan, Caroline Sinavaiana

Pacific Studies

This poem is a lyrical elegy expressing love, longing, and loss through the metaphor of a pigeon in flight. Rooted in Samoan tradition, it evokes a deep emotional landscape where nature mirrors the ache of separation. The forest becomes both a literal and symbolic space of mystery and mourning, as the speaker watches and waits in vain for a beloved who has disappeared. Through its gentle cadence and sensory imagery, the poem captures the enduring ache of absence and the hope—however faint—that love might return on silent wings.

Not Exotic, Lisa Kahaleole Hall

Pacific Studies

This sensual poem explores desire and self-discovery through the metaphor of mangoes—ripe, tart, messy, and irresistible. The speaker recalls the intense flavors and sensations of mango eating, paralleling them with a complex, bold woman who resists sweetness in favor of spice. It captures the tension between sharp edges and tender longing in a relationship that ripens slowly, but promises depth and heat in time.

Niudity (I-Iv), Teresia Teaiwa

Pacific Studies

The "Niudity" poem sequence by Teresia Teaiwa explores the layered metaphor of the coconut (niu) to reflect on identity, vulnerability, and postcolonial femininity in Oceania. The poems interweave bodily imagery with cultural symbolism—where the coconut’s husk, shell, and flesh represent stages of exposure, resilience, and inner worth. In playful yet poignant verse, Teaiwa deconstructs the idea of nudity into niudity—a state shaped not just by nakedness, but by misrecognition, resistance, and cultural disguise. Her fictional dictionary entries parody colonial linguistic authority while empowering indigenous reinterpretation. The final poem subverts expectations with sharp commentary on exploitation, voice, and …

Woven Worlds, Konai Helu Thaman

Pacific Studies

This poem beautifully portrays the act of weaving—both literal and metaphorical—as a shared practice of memory, creativity, and cultural continuity. The speaker reflects on how hands, once weaving traditional materials like voivoi (pandanus), now craft art through movement and color. Together, the weavers form a collective bond, connecting generations and geographies in a creative act that honors ancestral legacy and reimagines the world through shared expression.

2nd Stanza, "Samoa," From Meet You In Hawaiki, Rosanna Raymond

Pacific Studies

An image of a woman with a poem.

Dream Driving, Don Russ

KSU Press Legacy Project

In Don Russ's collection of poetry, Dream Driving, life is a journey. It has dream-like stages, apparitions, visions, and revelations. The journey itself is in some ways a dream, a sleep-wandering among the labyrinths of the mind, of the imagined world, of even the "real" world. What can we finally know for sure? Do we not at least partly create what we see in the act of seeing it?

Section I includes the poems:

• Here
• In the Driveway
• At the End of the Woods
• Fauns
• Metamorphosis
• Easter Biddies
• Walk on Water
• A Little Visit
• The Bachelor Tells a Family Story …

Inscape 2007, Morehead State University

Inscape: Art & Literary Magazine Archive

The 2007 edition of the Inscape: Literary and Art Magazine.

Volume 39 (2007), C. V. Davis

The Broad River Review

The 2007 edition of The Broad River Review was edited by C. V. Davis. The publication contains fiction, non-fiction, art, poetry, and photography. The covers, "Color Canyon" and "Slot Canyon," were photographed by Randy McNeilly. The winner of the J. Calvin Koontz Poetry Award, given annually for a portfolio of poetry to a senior English major, is Eric Proctor. The Broad River Review Editor's Prizes in Fiction and Poetry are chosen among all submissions from Gardner-Webb University students.The Editor's Prize in Poetry was awarded to Jess Snyder for her peom titled, "The Buzzards Circle Home." The Editor's Prize in Fiction …

Nexus, Winter 2007, Wright State University Community

Nexus Literary Journal

Nexus is a magazine that began as an insert in the Wright State Guardian student newspaper in 1965 and has since been published semi-regularly. It began only accepting creative writing, but has since expanded to include illustrations, photography and other non-written art forms. Today, it is published in a digital format and accepts submissions from around the country, though it maintains its commitment to the Wright State Community.

Masculine Fecundity And ‘Overinclusiveness’: Imagery Of Pregnancy In Wallace Stevens’ Poetry, Brian Glaser

English Faculty Articles and Research

This article reflects on the imagery of pregnancy in the poetry of Wallace Stevens. It notes that the decision of Stevens to change the use of imagery of pregnancy indicates something about a development in his inner life. The images of his later poems show a diminishment of his earlier tendency to associate birth with death which is a sign of his increasing tolerance of the envious desire to be pregnant. The imagination of Stevens matured over twenty years and the changes in images of pregnancy are a measure of that change.

Review Of Teatro Y Vanguardia En Hispanoamérica, By Concepción Reverte Bernal, Leslie Bayers

Academic Affairs Faculty and Staff Articles

No abstract provided.

Ua1d Joe Survant, Wku Human Resources

WKU Administration Documents

Biographical clipping file regarding Joe Survant.

Ivy Leaves, 2007, Ivy Leaves Editorial Staff

Ivy Leaves

The 2007 edition of the Anderson University journal of art and literature, Ivy Leaves.

The names of the known editors for this issue of Ivy Leaves were Jessica Sopolosky, Charlie Grant, Phyllis Goins, Joshua Rigsby, Robbie Cobb, Wayne Cox, and Eric Whitlock.

Gloves, José Angel Araguz

Faculty Publications

This poem by José Angel Araguz originally appeared in Rattle. It was also featured in Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry Project (Column 196); Kooser served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

Et Cetera, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

Method Acting, Kristi Capra

Calliope

No abstract provided.

Myth Is A Tool Of The State, Daniel Guerra

Calliope

No abstract provided.

Steps To Exhibition, Linda Lopez

Calliope

No abstract provided.

Devotion, Discord, Deceit, Calliope

Calliope

No abstract provided.

739-7, Ben Elliott

Calliope

No abstract provided.

A Through G, Brian Glaser

English Faculty Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Commonthought Vol. 18 (2007), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts

Despite Gravity, Majory Heath Wentworth

Ninety-Six Press

No abstract provided.

Lines For A Colleague (Frank Slagle, 1947-2006), Frank Pommersheim

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

You Forgot To Close The Door, Lorena Cabrera

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Wipeout, Jany Cabezas

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Tainted Fertilizer, Ryan Frabizio

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Ode In D Major, Liz Harbaugh

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.