DECEMBER THEME: ELEGY OWED
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 7
NOVEMBER 2025 | THEME: HEARTBREAK
Dancers, Pink and Green by Edgar Degas (c. 1890)
You have to be willing to go under.
It’s all love asks of you.
OCTOBER 2025 | THEME: HAUNTED
YAKSHINI
Smitha Sehgal
Entrainment by Derek Mueller
Grandmother forbade menstruating women
in our family from stepping out after dark.
SEPTEMBER 2025 | FORM: LIST
DIAGNOSIS
Nikita Deshpande
Entrainment by Derek Mueller
I come from a long line of time travellers
—by which I mean, we all suffer from the chronic illness
of being elsewhere
AUGUST 2025 | THEME: RAIN
After Last Night’s Rain
Michael Colonnese
Cloud-stitching by Derek Mueller
The sky doesn't know
what to do. Black clouds
between patches of blue so bright
they're almost manic.
JULY 2025 | THEME: HOT
william o’neal ii
It’s all alright darling
drop your act. Say that you know
what you want.
JUNE 2025 | FORM: VILLANELLE
KATE DEIMLING
I’m aware an emperor is divine,
and it’s kind of you to call me wise—
you should see these cabbages of mine.
MAY 2025 | THEME: ARS POETICA
KATHERINE IRAJPANAH
lounging in your maroon dress at the end of my sentence—
your sweaty hand reaching out into the silence
APRIL 2025 | THEME: FRIENDSHIP
GREG HUGHES
We aren’t thirty-five. There was no accident.
Your back is still new, still elastic.
MARCH 2025 | THEME: DREAMS
Margarita Cruz
The dreams arrive full-mooned;
the stars evidence of a kindness—
FEBRUARY 2025 | THEME: LOVE & SEX
DICK WESTHEIMER
My wife doesn’t want me to write about her superpower. The world should not know how she howls down the moon and turns an ordinary day into something the Hubble telescope might see from a billion years ago…
JANUARY 2025 | FORM: ABECEDARIAN
Hannah Anowan
asking permission to slaughter me
bodily when you’ve already attempted to
crucify my psyche seems a bit…
delusional? degenerate?
2024 ARCHIVE
JULY-DECEMBER 2024
JANUARY-JUNE 2024
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Every month, the we feature a Poem of the Month.
The “Poem of the Month” is accompanied by both a contributor’s and an editor’s note, as well as a custom piece of artwork created by Derek Mueller.
Beyond creating more exciting ways for poetry to shine through in the world, we wish to make the editorial process more transparent.
Why do some poems stand out?
Each month has a new form or theme.
The winner will be offered $33 for this contribution.
You may submit only one poem.
While the submissions for the Poem of the Month category are free, there are also tip-jar option and paid feedback options. These help us sustain the magazine.
We will respond to all submissions within three weeks.