— Planetarium, by Adrienne Rich

— Arthur Sze, from Pe’ahi Light

— Muriel Rukeyser, from The Surrounded

— J. Allyn Rosser, from Sugar Dada

—W. S. Merwin, from Separation

I dress your name as if a wound, with the delicacy of someone who knows how much it can hurt to move. I whisper it with caution, as if there is no more room in my throat except for that of air. Ocean Vuong said freedom is nothing but the distance between a hunter and its prey, and with each broken step I'm learning that love does nothing but eat, and tear at these threads

—J. D Mcclatchy, from Late Night Ode

—Li-Young Lee, From Blossoms

—E. Ethelbert Miller, from Beloved

—Muna Abdulahi, from ESL

—Somto Ihezue, from All the Stones That Built Me

—Linda Pastan from Why Are Your Poems so Dark?

—Lorna Dee Cervantes, from Valentine

—Li-Young Lee, from This Room and Everything In It

—Valerio Magrelli, from I Love Uncertain Guestures

—Bruce Smith, from February Sky

— Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng, from Poet Statement