October 29, 2019
We don’t have to kill our environment to make beautiful things If life was on a dark path, should we continue on to see what life brings? Self-inspired hope after finding new ways to cope Dealing with demolition would leave one so pessimistic Watching it all fall then running off in the distance Returning to […]
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Sometimes, when we hear a poem, we struggle to make sense of it—its meaning, its tone, or our affinity to its writer. And then, sometimes, certain poems feel handed to us. Much like a gift, you don’t have to work hard to feel a kinship with it. Hanif Abdurraqib’s Hinge reading on October 23 was […]
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October 28, 2019
Cinnamon O, cinnamon Soft but sharp quiet but demanding You are the tall red spruces old as time cutting the sky and stretching beyond You are clouds who knit together casting a blanket of gray swallowing the earth and casting soft raindrops You are the bear prowling through the forest lumbering paws slapping the mud […]
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October 18, 2019
By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director Twenty years ago this fall, I walked into the deep time of Richard Kenney’s classroom at the University of Washington. I was young and dumb—and by dumb I mean dumb but also quiet—painfully shy and silent, writing an all-thumbs poetry. I can’t blame Professor Kenney for making me older—we […]
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Like a choice bowl of Halloween candy, this year’s Lit Crawl on October 24 is sprinkled with a healthy dose of our Writers in the Schools (WITS) and Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) programs. But which WITS writers will be where? Here’s a handy guide to help you map it out. But readers be warned—you have […]
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October 16, 2019
Tomorrow, on Thursday, October 17, the Seattle Art Museum will be opening its doors to the public to celebrate the opening of their new exhibit, Flesh & Blood. The exhibit features Italian masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum, offering a rare opportunity to experience the fierce beauty of art from the 16th and 17th centuries. What’s […]
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October 15, 2019
It used to be A place of comfort Of freedom Of joy Then it changed Into A place of worry Of dread Of anxiety How can something so innocent Lead to changing the way I Think Feel Act This beautiful place Now holds secrets And scars I could Climb Then leap Swinging into the cool, […]
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The F Train Maybe she didn’t get the job Maybe the hiring manager found her height overbearing, That she reeked of women who frighten men Maybe he caught sight of the pendant on the chain around her neck Hanging just above the hemline of a new-looking grey cardigan. A tarnished beauty on the shore of […]
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By Rachel Bachler Trees turn, leaves crunch, night falls altogether at four in the afternoon, and the delightfully sudden fifty-degree drop in temperature entices even the grumpiest of sidewalk commuters to partake in a ceremonial open-mouth, ‘I can see my breath!’ exhale. Fall, with all its entrancingly warm scarves and pumpkin scones, is the time […]
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October 11, 2019
This essay is part of a series in which Poetry Northwest partners with Seattle Arts & Lectures to present reflections on visiting writers from SAL’s Poetry Series. At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 17, Richard Kenney will read at Seattle Central Community College—Broadway Performance Hall. Tickets are still available! By Jason Whitmarsh In 1997, I moved from […]
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