It Has Been A Year
It’s been a little more than a year since my last update here, but what a year it has been!
First, the big news: Kelsay Books has accepted my first collection of verse, Tiller and Shears, for publication at the end of this year. I’m taking advantage of the lull between submitting my manuscript and awaiting proof copy to get this uopdate in order.
My poem “Cactus” found its way to the Summer 2025 edition of Penumbra Online at the end of last July. It’s a short poem, but heartfelt.
The 2025 issue of Santa Fe Literary Review came out in late August last year. This gorgeous book, beautifully designed and edited, includes my short poem, “Brewis,” in which my parents’ legacy informs my life with Warren.
My copies of the Querencia Press Summer 2025 anthology were delivered early in September. This print volume contains a reissue of my story, “Bats,” about a vivid memory of Warren in his garden on a summer night many years ago. “Bat” first appeared online in Halfway Down the Stairs in 2022.
There’s a warm feeling that comes over me when a piece I loved writing finds a new home, especially such a beautiful home as this!
At the end of September, my poem “Walking to The Grand,” found its way to the pages of Hooded Journal, in their “Cosy Romance” issue. This one features Warren complaining, on our way to a matinee in Williamstown, about people forgetting the past.
Another of my memoir pieces, “Skulls,” found a home with Prosetrics, The Literary Magazine in their Issue 11, “Whelve.” In this piece, I reflect on the ways Warren and I experienced the 247 Bar in Philadelphia in the 1970s and beyond, separately and then together.
Last October was an eventful month! Early in the month, my poem “The Morning News” appeared on-site at Merion West. I’m super-proud of this poem. It’s about remembering what’s important when times are hard.
One of my poems published in the last century, “Heisenberg,” found a new home in Moss Piglet’s October 2025 issue, “Hidden.” “Heisenberg” first appeared in Philadelphia’s The South Street Star back in 1988. It’s good to see it in print again.
The Origami Poems Project published my first little set of poems about Wade Whimsies, Figurines Pulled from Boxes of Tea, as a microchap. In April of this year, they also published my second microchap, Aquarium Set. When these collections are printed out, folded a certain way, and cut in one place, they form tiny booklets of six poems each. You can download printable copies of both microchaps here from my poets listing page at Origami Poems Project.
On October 11, Ink & Ember Magazine notified me that their Fall issue is available.This issue includes three of my poems scattered among its pages: “Basket,” “The Jersey Devil,” and “The Queer Outreach Concert.” I’m thrilled that these pieces have found such a good home.
Also in October, Last Syllable: A Longform Literary Journal nominated my poem “Names” from their Issue 3 for inclusion in the Best of the Net Anthology. While this poem didn’t make the cut for the anthology I’m honored that this piece resonated with the editors enough for them to recommend it!
Later last fall, Fruitslice published my story, “The Comfort of Thunder,” in their Issue 8, “Repair.” This short memoir piece takes me back to junior high, and the memory of my wildly homophobic eighth-grade English teacher. This is a piece I danced around for several years before finally setting it down completely. I’m glad it found a good home.
In December, Issue 10 of t’ART Magazine, their “Empty/Full” issue, arrived. This issue contains my bit of memoir about a childhood summer I spent at my aunt’s house in Charlotte, North Carolina, “The Unkind Cut.”
The editors of Snowflake Magazine published my poem, “Decimal,” in their fourth anthology, and named my poem as Editor’s Pick for the issue! It’s one of my early poems, about a moment of missed timing, a Petrarchan sonnet arranged in couplets that proceed in multiples of ten—complicated, I admit, but I promise it doesn’t labor on the page.
At the turn of the year, Troublemaker Firestarter published Issue 10, “Fairweather,” containing my poem, “Poseidon,” in which Warren rises from the sea as a wet, sandy figure of myth.
In January, I was honored to see my sestina, “Tiller and Shears,” appear in Issue 104 of Neologism Poetry Journal. I wrote as a result of a pair of Murphy Writing at Stockton University workshops: Jason Mitchell’s “Poet’s Myth” sessions and Christine Salvatore’s “Building Worlds” workshop. My thanks to both for their inspiration. I’m happy enough with the way “Tiller and Shears” turned out and what it says, that I’ve titled my forthcoming collection after this poem.
Also early this year, my poem “Vertigo,” about a fondly remembered fling, appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of Loch Raven Review.
Issue 55 of Berkeley Poetry Review was published in March. This issue includes my poem, “The Good Neighbor,” in which Warren converses with the woman who lived next door to us for several years.
In April, RFD Magazine published Issue 205 on the subject of “Heartbreak.” It contains my poem, “Losing Superboy,” about the strange interplay between my childhood status as a “prodigy” and my evolving queer identity. And in June, in Issue 206, they included my bit of memoir, “Elephant Walk,” in which Warren taught me how to work in the woods.
The last week of April felt like a flood of publications. On the 25th, Kreatif Magazine gave my poem, “The Man You Feared,” a home.
The next day,the editors at Shadowplay published my memoir piece, “Penn’s Landing,” a story about a long wintertime walk fifty years ago, a walk that took a dramatic turn.
I’m especially proud of this piece; I feel like I’ve really captured Warren’s voice. I can even hear him talking when I read it. Of course, that might be because Warren’s next to me, still talking.
My story isn’t one of the free samples, though, so if you want to read it, the entire issue is available (for only nine bucks!) from Amazon.
The Spring 2026 issue of Remington Review went live on April 27, including my poem in tribute to Maya Angelou, “Tonight.”
In May, SugarSugarSalt Lit Magazine re-published my brief bit of memoir, “Hospitality,” my recollection of a restaurant meal shared by my family in Jim Crow South Carolina in the early 1960s.
On May 24, “Trefoil,” my poem about picking a sprig of clover as religious experience, was awarded an Honorable Mention in October Project’s annual poetry competition, one of eleven finalists.
June was another good month for multiple publications. On June 11, Silly Goose Press published my poem, “Gawayne Ever After,” along with an audio recording of me reading it.
On the 16th, Fergie’s Featured Poets Anthology, including my poem “Sunrise at Night,” was published by the Moonstone Art Center
CrayfishMag published my memoir piece “Golgotha,” on June 23. In this story, I remember incidents that occurred when my family lived in Jim Crow South Carolina back in the early 1960s.
Also in June, Not a Pipe Publishing issued their third Antifa Lit Journal: Diversity of Tactics, which included my short poem, “Threatened,” about defending the nest in the current political climate.
On July 29, my poem about Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle exchanging a significant look, “In the Photograph by Moses Rice,” appeared in the inaugural issue of coastlines review, a gloriously high-style journal of “documentary poetics,” works that employ artifacts to interrogate history.
Also on July 29, Hyacinth Review included my prose poem “Apistry,” about Warren’s beekeeping through the seasons. This will be the final issue of this lovely journal, so I feel lucky to have “Apistry” included.