by McKenzie | Nov 8, 2015 | Poem of the Day Series
CROCUS I wanted to stay in the earth: There, I needed no skin—the dark body was all around me. I had no tongue. Above me, sleep, a heaven of snow. Years, years. Then the split, the blue heart lifted almost out—who was coming to save me? How...
by McKenzie | Nov 7, 2015 | Poem of the Day Series
IT BLOWS YOU HOLLOW It takes your bones to bed, tongues out the marrow. Says it will meet you halfway, a hotel deep in Oklahoma where you’ll get adjoining rooms and have a couple of nervous breakdowns. It’s a no-show, waylaid. It orders the...
by McKenzie | Feb 8, 2015 | Literary Scene, Reading
SLEEPING WOMAN —after the painting by Richard Diebenkorn I’m walking east down Lovell in Kalamazoo in the middle of the afternoon, and it’s hot, July something, and there’s a man...
by McKenzie | Aug 17, 2014 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
No matter how long I’ve been reading and writing professionally, it still amazes me how much a little time away can contribute to my appreciation of a larger work. During my first year as the Layout and Design Editor at New Issues Poetry and Prose, I had the...
by McKenzie | Aug 16, 2014 | Reading
BECCA She says, It’s my birthday I’m going tomorrow. What’s your favorite font? What should I have him write? Serifs, I say, I like serifs. I like old typewriters—the keys little platters. I don’t answer the question about what to write. The vellum...
