"Lulled into listen— trees whimper, slender bows drawn, wind mourning through branches entwined, creaking timbre." - Records in the Playroom, Rebekah Pahr

"The directions said to plant lilacs in my ribcage but instead you plucked them dried petals to the wind" - Gardens stop growing if you don’t water them, Alexandra Schaub

"Hair is shameful Youthful smoothness is what we look for here I have one face, concealed with foundation and BB cream And color corrector and contour, until it is no longer my face It is a mask" - Woman, Nina

"Find me in the shadows resting on the lowest branch with my fingertips surprising the dew not yet meant to be discovered." - Lucency, Monica Synstelien

"These cows aren’t going to milk themselves. As the milk machines turn on, The cows line up single-file. Closing the rusted gate shut, The day has officially begun." - Farm-Living City Boy, Christian Ndekwe

"Unravel me Slowly Find the string Between my navel and my collarbone And pull Until I start to spin Until my chest is moving faster Than my head" - Unravel Me, Ilia Widman

"But Death is not a greedy soul For corpses dug from dirty graves Reanimate and stalk the Earth, Raise greening limbs up to the sun, And drink forth from the heavens." - Harvester, N. Matthew

"It is hard for me to let her go. I want to chain her up, settle her down, tell her no. But I can’t, and I never will." - Letting Her Go, Payton West

From "trying too hard," by Cory Alford, as featured in America’s Best Emerging Poets: zpublishinghouse.com/collections/mo…

An excerpt from “Mid-Air,” by Annie Burdick, as featured in America’s Best Emerging Poets: bit.ly/abep_zpublishi…

An excerpt from “trying too hard,” by Cory Alford, as featured in America’s Best Emerging Poets: bit.ly/abep_zpublishi…

An excerpt from “Mid-Air,” by Annie Burdick, as featured in America’s Best Emerging Poets: bit.ly/abep_zpublishi…

An excerpt from “Fall for You,” by Max Mlinar, as featured in America’s Best Emerging Poets: bit.ly/abep_zpublishi…

An excerpt from “Mid-Air,” by Annie Burdick, as featured in America’s Best Emerging Poets: bit.ly/abep_zpublishi…

An excerpt from “I Didn’t Write You a Song,” by Jamie Jennissen, as featured in America’s Emerging Poets 2018: Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin bit.ly/AEP2018ILMNWI

An excerpt from “Work,” by Neese Parker, as featured in America’s Emerging Poets 2018: Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin bit.ly/AEP2018ILMNWI

An excerpt from “Bitter, Old and New,” by Lauren Nicole Schwabe Jordan, as featured in America’s Emerging Poets 2018: Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin bit.ly/AEP2018ILMNWI

An excerpt from “Victoria,” by Justin M Thompson, as featured in America’s Emerging Poets 2018: Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin bit.ly/AEP2018ILMNWI

An excerpt from “The Love Poem I’ve Been Waiting For,” by Grace Larson, as featured in America’s Emerging Poets 2018: Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin bit.ly/AEP2018ILMNWI