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Poetry

A photo illustration accompanying Tiana Clark's Scorched Earth poems, reflecting themes of Black motherhood in poetry, faith, and grief.

The Raw Root of Dark Sounds

These three poems excerpted from “Scorched Earth” reckon with a mother’s face, the devil’s music, and what miracles can happen on a plain day.

By Tiana Clark /
A hawk soaring above a hayfield under the sun, illustrating 'Succession,' a nature-inspired poem by Tennessee poet Sherry Poff. Keywords: Tennessee poet Sherry Poff, Appalachian poetry Succession, nature-inspired poems Tennessee.

Succession

In the natural world, one thing always leads to another.

By Sherry Poff /
Tiana Clark Southern poet, author of Scorched Earth poetry collection, exploring radical Black joy in poetry and modern cultural narratives.

The Unapologetic Verse of Tiana Clark

From Nashville to national acclaim, Tiana Clark’s poetry challenges readers to embrace the fullness of Black experience and the radical act of rest.

By Salaam Green /
Close-up of a rotary phone accompanying Limping Along, a poetry collection by North Carolina poet Joseph Mills exploring time, memory, and resilience. Joseph Mills poetry.

Limping Along

Even as we march forth into the future, we can’t stop wrestling with the past. Three poems about what time whispers in our ears.

By Joseph Mills /
A watercolor sunset over rolling hills with a car on a winding road, symbolizing themes from Steve Cushman’s poetry collection about family, memory, and emotional everyday moments.

Full With Love

Sometimes the littlest things can set us off: a vegetable, a sibling’s smile, the taste of a certain beer, imagining someone who’s gone is still here. Maybe love lives that low—all the way down to the molecular level of the everyday.

By Steve Cushman /
A man tubing on a river, evoking themes from Beth Copeland's 'Tubing on the New River,' a poem by the award-winning North Carolina poet about aging and companionship.

Tubing on the New River

An award-winning poet’s reflection on aging, intimacy, and how to navigate the sometimes comical waters of companionship.

By Beth Copeland /
A young girl with red ribbons in her hair on a swing, set against an American flag, symbolizing themes from the American blues poetry "I Hear America Singing the Blues" by Jacqueline Allen Trimble.

I Hear America Singing the Blues

After her daughter was caught in the crossfire of a shootout, Jacqueline Allen Trimble penned a poem that asks: how do we sing when every note sounds like a gunshot?

By Jacqueline Allen Trimble /
Close-up of biscuits covered in creamy gravy on a white plate, symbolizing Appalachian traditions in Hilda Downer's poetry about resilience and heritage. Includes themes from Appalachian poetry by Hilda Downer, Aunt Honeybee's Bread Board analysis, and her Appalachian roots.

Aunt Honeybee’s Bread Board

Making biscuits turns everything into a song of praise, lament, and uncertainty.

By Hilda Downer /
A minimalist line drawing of a pinata donkey with rainbow-colored offset edges against a cream background, symbolizing childhood games, cultural discrimination, and generational trauma in Southern traditions.

Pin the Tail

Through the lens of a childhood birthday party, a Southern poet confronts inherited prejudices from his youth.

By M. Benjamin Thorne /
Two hands form a heart shape against sunlit foliage, symbolizing the tender connection between generations in West Virginia poetry, capturing the essence of childhood memories and family bonds in rural Appalachia through filtered sunshine and bokeh effects.

It Only Takes Ten Fingers To Hold the Sky

From gasoline-scented memories to the purple of maternal exhaustion, these poems capture the raw essence of Appalachian childhood and the profound wisdom of letting go.

By Kale Hensley /
Image of a Greek column that goes with poet Gary Grossman's poem about Athens Georgia history, and Southern college town history.

History Lesson, Athens, Georgia

A poet-ecologist’s morning run becomes a journey through time, revealing the layered history of a Southern college town.

By Gary Grossman /
A vintage black and white engraving repeated in quadrants shows a majestic buck deer with full antlers standing alert in a woodland setting, accompanied by resting does. The image accompanies Paul Jones' new poetry collection in Salvation South magazine. In the background, additional deer graze peacefully. The detailed crosshatching and classical style of the illustration evokes themes of natural dignity, endurance, and timeless relationships in the American wilderness. The mirrored composition creates a symmetrical pattern that reinforces themes of reflection and contemplation.

Fallen Monuments and Faithful Love

Nature is delicate. Lies are persistent. Love is steadfast.

By Paul Jones /