"Every poem is a love poem"
March 06, 2025
Mural by Sara Erenthal, Allen Street, New York, New York. Photo by Susan Thomsen, 2020.
Today's bit of poetry goodness is the February 26th, 2025, edition of the New Yorker's Poetry Podcast in which Jericho Brown reads a work by Elizabeth Alexander ("When") and one of his own ("Colosseum.") He tells poetry editor Kevin Young, "Every poem is a love poem because somebody just had to write it down. Somebody just had to get it right, and it was out of love, of that moment of writing, out of love for that poem itself..." I highly recommend listening to the interview and readings.
Another of Brown's poems that I like is "'N'Em." You can read it at the New York Times Magazine.
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The Poetry Friday roundup is at Margaret Simon's Reflections on the Teche. Margaret and I grew up in the same hometown and even attended the same church as kids. Small world, right? She's such a thoughtful, talented writer. Go visit!