150 Kansas Poems

Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is posting 150 poems by Kansas poets (or poets somehow connected to Kansas) in honor of Kansas turning 150.

The poems often have to do with Kansas or the Midwest – creating a kind of cohesive farm country, weather pondering website. The poems speak to Kansas in a symbolic way as the images add up and repeat – showing that Kansas is more than just another state in the middle of these other states, that Kansas represents a place of growth, peace and even mystery. Poets like Denise Low, Kevin Rabbas, and Joseph Harrington have been featured on this website, and there are often new and emerging poets showcased right along with these established poets.

150 Kansas Poems

The website is also in the works for becoming an anthology, so be on the lookout.

A Week Away

This poem is by James Armstrong. It’s lovely and I wanted to share:

I uncurl the wire clasps on the

bag of coffee you bought me:

inside, the aroma of earth,

edible and fragrant.

Two spoonfuls into the filter,

a gout of hot water,

and the sky will take on giant step

closer. I think of

how you slid these black beans

from the dispenser,

so they felt like bees in a sack;

how you poured them into the grinder

which rumbled like my grandfather’s

old electric turn-stone

on which he would lean

a knife’s edge, and make it spark

with all he was taking away;

how I am sharpening my heart

now, on the grit of your absence,

laying on the whirling surface

of the day, until

I can feel it grow incandescent,

trailing the hair of a comet, as

whatever does not love you streaks away.

From the collection Blue Lash, Milkweed Editions, 2006

Call For Submissions

Blue Island Review, a regional journal located in Lawrence, KS, is accepting poetry submissions for our 2012 issue. We publish writers with ties to Kansas and Missouri, especially the Kansas City and Lawrence area. Our editors look for poetry rich with imagery, narrative, and emotional complexity, poetry that surprises and inspires us to see the world differently.

Please submit up to three of poems of your best work, no more than five pages. Upload your poems as ONE document, not separately. You may include a cover letter with your bio and a quick explanation of your connection to the region.

We will accept submissions from now through July 15. Please allow up to 90 days for response.

Query: blueislandreview@gmail.com