A couple months ago I attended the Terroir Creative Writing Festival for the first time.  Omar El Akkad kicked things off with an amazing keynote speech that got me thinking about the privilege of having distance from violence.  Kim Stafford led a poetry workshop in which he challenged us to think of poems in broader terms, such as outpourings, manifestos, and meditations.  Then in the afternoon I went to a session on ekphrastic poetry which focused on paintings and sculptures.  I stubbornly, though, decided to write another video game poem instead.  The day’s inspiration mixed in my mind with memories of playing the various Super Smash Bros. games.  

The result, “Meditations on Super Smash Bros.,” is included in the second issue of Y2K Quarterly.  I enjoy this publication’s themes and aesthetics, all rooted in the 1997-2007 time period. 

Also, my poem “Pumpkin Ash and Cypress Knees,” first published in Boudin by The McNeese Review, has been reprinted in The Hyacinth Review in keeping with their Night theme. 

Coming soon, a new short story…