Akin Jeje's “An Island in the Stream” is a poignant poetic response to the death of Nolan Wells, exploring grief, racial injustice, and the fragile promise of belonging in America. Through its evocative imagery and communal voice, the poem stands as both an elegy and a call for justice, remembrance, and collective responsibility.

"Voices in the Crowd" by David Anson Lee is a powerful poetry collection exploring American protest, democracy, grief, justice, and collective hope. Through lyrical free verse and vivid urban imagery, Lee captures the heartbeat of a generation rising against silence and inequality. This collection reflects the courage, resilience, and humanity found in moments of public resistance and shared witness.

Hannan Kahn’s poem "we grade each and everything here" is a stark critique of rigid education, cultural control, and silenced identity. Through haunting classroom imagery, the poem exposes the toll of perfectionism, gender norms, suppressed emotion, conformity, and institutionalized obedience.

“Could’ve” by Akin Jeje is a powerful poem of generational frustration, self-reflection, and resilience that confronts hopelessness while examining expectation versus survival in a complex, modern world.

“My mother wears her trauma like a second sari.” In For My Mother, Who Learned to Smile in a Foreign Language, Vaswati Das traces the inheritance of pain across generations. With raw tenderness and unflinching intimacy, she writes of what it means to grow up beneath the shadow of unhealed wounds.

“Push shove. Push shove.” In Odette Cortés’ “Orpheus Underground,” the subway becomes an underworld — a place where myth meets the modern commute, and the rhythm of survival hums beneath the city’s surface.

In "Halwa for Hymen," Hannan Khan confronts silence, shame, and survival—poetry that reshapes kitchens into confessionals and exposes the haunting recipes tradition forces women to swallow.

In Amerasian, poet Lam Ho unravels the generational weight of identity, beauty, and belonging. This poignant piece explores the haunting legacy of war and mixed heritage through the eyes of a daughter tracing the myth and mystery of her mother—searching, remembering, and reckoning with what lingers in the bloodline.

Author Nicole Doyley makes a poetic plea from a mother’s heart, challenging the cost of conflict. With heartbreaking tenderness, Doyley reclaims the sacred purpose of motherhood from the violence that threatens it.

Gaazal Dhungana Speculative Poetry from the Iridescence anthology Breathe in… breathe out… I have to consciously and desperately remind...

A visceral descent into psychedelic chaos, the poem captures a mind unraveling under the weight of drug-induced delirium. Disoriented senses, distorted reality, and fractured consciousness pulse through surreal imagery, as the narrator's craving for answers is drowned in neon hallucinations, chemical manipulation, and existential dread coded in binary cries of “DEAD.”

Liz Johnston What them drums say? What them drums mean? I could hear them talkin’— I think they talkin’ to me. A whisper in the crowd...

"Roberta" by Akin Jeje is a lyrical tribute to Roberta Flack, weaving memory, music, and nostalgia into a timeless reflection on love and lo

"Lament for My Skin" by Wayne Benson Jr. is an evocative poem that explores the weight of history, heritage, and Black identity.

"A Text for My Loves" by Cobain Overton of Pebblebrook High is a heartfelt and humorous exploration of love in all its forms.

Zaria Black won KQ Avenue’s slam event with her riveting poem "Validation," a bold anthem of independence and pride.

by Olugbenga Ayodeji Ayo-Daniel Upon the dirty, crinkled faces of the old familiar gods, I pour libation. May I be liberated from...

Poet and performer Marcelo Moreira shares from his upcoming collection to be featured in the upcoming "Iridescence" anthology.

"Spirit Filled" is part of the award-winning "Ghetto Gospels" poetry collection by Brother Tshepang of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ikhenoba Marcel Joseph, a native voice of Nigeria, shares a tribute to tradition in his beautiful poem "Sanctuary."