by McKenzie | Oct 7, 2015 | Blog, My Poems
I think of you, fellow teacher, and I fear what lies on the other side of the door, the window, the rain. What power lies in waiting, what anger, what brown paper bag concealing fire. I lean back in my desk chair and make myself a little smaller, blend into the...
by McKenzie | Mar 28, 2015 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
When we spend a lot of time reading poetry, I know we can become critical of the pursuit of love and the defining of boundaries in poetry—but sometimes, a poet chooses to address these exact topics, and they get everything right: they create something...
by McKenzie | Mar 27, 2015 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
Here I am, attempting to think of what to say, but my coffee spilled, and it made such a lovely and dark display across my table. This is the sort of mindset in which Shawnte Orion places me: an area of in-the-moment appreciation, the odd humor of something...
by McKenzie | Mar 17, 2015 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
Before I get started, I have a (positive!) confession to make: I wrote this review four times. I read a lot of poetry, but it’s rare to discover a collection that is unique in its severity, one that equally makes you cringe and keeps you reading with mutual...
by McKenzie | Nov 30, 2014 | Reading
THE WHITE SEA Spin the big wheel of weather. So it’s seven degrees. I could have sworn it was balmy and getting ready to storm eight minutes ago. One definition of a slob is someone who runs out to the street through a foot of...