Shouting at Wildflowers in Three Acts

I'm not sure where the line is drawn between science fiction poetry and speculative poetry, but I'm happy so many of my poems are published in qualify sf venues. This poem was published in  Silver Blade (#51, October 2021). 

Freezing on Mineral Creek Trail

I am so honored that Turtle Island Quarterly has published so many of my ecology and nature-related poems.  "Freezing on Mineral Creek Trail" reflects on my visit to Valdez, Alaska in 2000. https://fourdirectionpoetry.wixsite.com/turtleisland/copy-of-20.

KENYON REVIEW!

Saddened by the death of the great Irish poet Ciaran Carson in 2019, I studied his last book of poems (Still Life) which were entirely ekphrastic. As a tribute to Carson, I wrote my own ekphrastic poetry using the artwork he wrote about. Our perspectives are quite different.

"Impossible White Goat" was published in Kenyon Review in print only, May/June 2021, v.53.3.

"When I Can't See" and "Listening My Way Back" came out in Kenyon Review Online in May 2021 which you can find here: https://kenyonreview.org/writer/sara-backer/

Waves

"Waves" is another poem about my father's death, published in the absolutely gorgeous Irish publication Crannóg, issue 54, Spring 2021. Print only. 

Peace Piece

Peace Piece is a tribute to one of my favorite pianists, Bill Evans.  

The best way to read this poem is to find an audio recording of "Peace Piece" online and listen as you read!

You'll have to scroll down to April 2021.

"Into the Closet" and "Games for Children" are two more poems in my four-poem CutBank bonanza issue in April 2021.

Tiresias Plays Chess in Their Spare Time

 Tiresias Plays Chess in Their Spare Time is one of my four-poem bonanza publications in CutBank Literary Magazine online in April 2021. This is an unrhymed sonnet depicting the mythical Greek character of Tiresias as transgender prophet unable to read the future of a chess game.

History

 "History" is a playful poem about who gets to own the story. Check it out at The Pedestal Magazine, Issue #87.

Half of Courage Is Rage

This righteous prose poem about illness injustice was published in Unbroken Issue 27 (October 2020). The issue hasn't been archived at this time, but it will show up. 

Things in a Cup, Things on a Spoon

 This is a sad poem about my father's death ( in 2016) now published in Mikrokosmos Journal out of Wichita State University. Thanks, Mojo #18!

Blue Crest

 "Blue Crest" is a non-rhyming sonnet in which the speaker ponders fear and failure stuck on a bridge in traffic. It's in Slant, a journal in print only, v. 34, Summer 2020.

Cobra

 My short poem "Cobra" appears in issue 4 of Frozen Wavelets.

Walls

 Many thanks to Unstamatic for publishing my futuristic micro-poem "Walls" in their September issue and to Roman Rivera for the terrific artwork.

The Death Jar

Autumn Sky Daily reprinted my poem "The Death Jar" online. This poem about gardens and mothers and childhood intuition was first published in  print by Bamboo Ridge and is one of the poems included in my first book, Such Luck.  

They Made My Face

I'm always happy to place a poem in Silver Blade, a magazine for literary speculative poetry. "They Made My Face" considers Helen of Troy as a victim of male culture and opioid addiction. The inspiration for this poem was from Emily Wilson's new translation of Honer's Odyssey.