Poetry in Bloom
Each day during the month of April, KUOW is highlighting the work of Seattle-based poets for National Poetry Month. In this series curated by Seattle Civic Poet and Ten Thousand Things host Shin Yu Pai, you'll find a selection of poems for the mind, heart, senses, and soul.
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Stories
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Poetry in Bloom: 30 days of Seattle-centric themes and verses
A note from Seattle Civic Poet, Shin Yu Pai.
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Poet Sara Marie Ortiz on what the moon has to teach us
Poet Sara Marie Ortiz looks at Seattle's landscape from a bird's-eye view, while contemplating natural and urban worlds, ever-present change, and all that's mutable.
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Poet Nadine Maestas on psychedelic journeying and seeing the sacred in everything
In "I Dreamt that We Ate Mushrooms Together," poet Nadine Antoinette Maestas brings the reader along on a sacred and immersive journey of becoming one again with nature, to remind humans of our own fundamental wildness.
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Poet Raul Sanchez on finding a voice that transcends language and borders
Raul Sanchez's poetry reflects an influence of American culture tangled with Sanchez's Mexican roots.
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Haiku comics artist David Lasky on the textures of Seattle
David Lasky combines poetry and comics in his creative practice, to craft 3-panel narrative sequential art that explores his everyday observations of living here. A practitioner and teacher of haiku comics, Lasky brings together language with simple drawings and patterns that startle the imagination.
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Poet Françoise Besnard Canter on the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest
In "Spit", Françoise Besnard Canter lingers on the detritus and decay of marine environments to return to a state of unadulterated beauty.
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Poet Tanya Holtland laments the toll of environmental apathy
In her Ballard-based poem "Golden Gardens," Tanya Holtland contemplates environmental pollution and its impacts on non-human species and future generations.
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Poet Omar Willey's 'incantation' pays tribute to ancestors of Seattle's First Nations
Born in Seattle, Omar Willey is the publisher of the online journal of arts and culture, "The Seattle Star," in which he writes about performing arts, science, experimental film, and open culture, as well as poetry.
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Remembering the intellectual clarity of the late Beth Bentley's poetry
Beth Bentley was a teacher and poet who, along with her husband — poet Nelson Bentley — left an indelible mark on Seattle's literary scene. When she died in 2021, she and her son Sean were working on her final poetry collection, titled "Missing Addresses," which is set to publish this month.
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Poet Ally Ang contemplates the delight of welcoming springtime in Seattle
"In Spring in Seattle," poet Ally Ang contemplates the unending gray Pacific Northwest skies that eventually give way to light and new growth, while practicing patience.
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Poet Melinda Mueller gives voice to Cascadian ghost forests
Melinda Mueller was a coauthor of an early list of rare, threatened, and endangered plant species of Washington State. Her scientific knowledge and deep attention to nature give voice to the ghost forests that were once verdant woodland in her poem "Larva."
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Poetic treasures from Alan Chong Lau
For decades, Alan Chong Lau worked slicing, cutting, and trimming produce at Uwajimaya, while making art and writing poems about his observations of the neighborhood. He chronicled his experiences in a book of poems called "Blues and Greens: A Produce Worker’s Journal."