Poetry
Read contemporary poems selected by Open Arts Forum’s editors, including visual poetry and work from the archive. Follow each poet’s name to discover more of their published work, or hear contributors in our author recordings. Writers considering OAF can read the poetry submission guidelines.
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Art, Poetry.ghost.
your ideas come different, you talk of immersion, and security, nothing was further from my mind. becomes part of the pattern, a mark on…
PoetryTOWAMENCIN CONDOMINIUMS
I drive through towamencin condos that neighborhood that reeks of my past and all of my memories start happening as I drive— I am…
PoetryLilyism
Lily wakens prematurely make-up lipstick powder nose Lily pads and prowls the lounge pirouettes expensive toes Lily looks askance at laundry socks and knickers…
PoetryWhy I’m Over Here
Walking my little doggy, I must go to extremes. Here we go. There’s a dog up ahead that needs avoiding, so we cross the…
PoetryFirst Game
There in the back of the closet of the room that was once my room and is now a museum to childhood is a…
PoetryWelcome to the Club, Motherfucker
For Kim Addonizio If you ever slept in your clothes, waking somewhere the next day that you didn’t recognize, ever closed your heart to…
PoetryInstructions for Calm Acceptance of Life’s Little and Large Misfortunes
The Henckel knife is sorry; it meant no harm. Peel back the band-aid with care; your scar needs to think: Be watermelon red or…
PoetrySeptember Memoir
Prologue: Today the first golden leaf fell like a sacred calling card; I caught it in my hand. 1. A Sleepless Night In The…
Poetry, ReadingsCake Night
Click on the Play arrow to view the author read this poem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShiR_bchtcE In a dank hall, under a punishing light cheap cologne mixes…
PoetryUpon the Ascent
Sun on the ram’s horn labyrinths your agate hand, we watch the curved blade split the grain. You elevate at the peak, you founded…