Riantly - Poetry Readings

In my experience and relation with H.D. - one either encounters her work in an academic setting, or rarely at all. What a shame! Perhaps in another time, one that I was less coherent for, H.D. was subject of more public and social discussion, attention. But as it stands, I do wish for you to enjoy some of her work. Here, you may find my recitation of a portion of one of her poems from the collecti...

I remember the experience of reading this book. It was Springtime in Seattle, maybe three years ago. I would read it exclusively on walks outside, roaming around the residential streets and lavishing in the late afternoon sunlight. I think it added to the experience of poems like what I’ve read here, “Late Gathering,” which are such social documentations at their core and yet reach for that flicke...

Working as a literary critic, oftentimes I find myself overly heady about trying to understand the poetics of something. The scholarly connections or the poetic lineage, naming the aesthetic within some canonical tradition or defining the metrical forms to understand sonic quality. In reality, sometimes you like a poem because the words just seem to click when you read them. This poem begins, “Des...

Listen to my ice-thin argument that shipwrecking is a metaphor intrinsic to the Northeast United States. Or perhaps an aesthetic? Lyn Lifshin has so many freaking poems published that if you enjoy this poem, you’d be a fool not to go and try to find as many as you can. She’s an incredible talent, and such a rare gem of prolificness. The blending of sex and environment is such an evocative move for...

Something I admire greatly about the field of ecopoetry is that it contains such climactic depth to it. I think of far-ranging examples like Juliana Spahr’s oeuvre, Camille Dungy, or even considering Tommy Pico’s Nature Poem — these examples aren’t too exclude, either. I know there’s a tremendous amount of argument and scholarship toward ecopoetry’s definition and the inclusion of writings in the...

Bhanu Kapil is a hugely important author working today. Her writing is inventive and invokes a now to often critical historic moments of violence or trauma. This poem is one of many from Kapil that are startling in the examination provided. The cross-temporal boundary examination of historical affect on those living through this moment, its racial violences, and the grief littered throughout. Ban...

There are many unfair and unjust things about COVID that have settled into unfortunate shadows on the world. One of which are all of the excellent authors whose works perhaps did not get as much attention or momentum behind them as I feel they ought have for the quality of their poetry. Adeeba Shahid Talukder’s Shahr-e-jaanaan: The City of the Beloved out of Tupelo Press is one such collection. Ta...

Krystyna Dąbrowska's Tideline is a magnificent collection published recently by Zephyr Press. What I love about these poems is Dąbrowska and translators Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Mira Rosenthal, and Karen Kovacik attention to what must be uttered between words. The spaces offered in these poems tease reality in a surprising way and allowed me as a reader to really join in imaginative hunt for meaning....

This reading and discussion of Baranda’s poem “To Hell,” also offers my thoughts around longer poems, my attempts at deciphering the ways in which to engage a longer poem, and what type of poem this is. Thanks for reading Riantly, or with Laughter! This post is public so feel free to share it. Below you can view an excerpt of “To Hell” translated by Paul Hoover. And here you can purchase a copy of...

There is, simply, no end to darling translations of exceptional poetry. It is, in fact, much more difficult to select a single poem for any of these works to read. Sometimes it’s a random selection, sometimes the gut leads me to a particular page, and sometimes I cheat by having a favorite poem already annotated. Thank you for reading Riantly, or with Laughter. This post is public so feel free to...

Etel Adnan is such a vital force of my literary and moral education. So fierce and creative, unflinching and funny at times, she detailed life in all of its colors. This poem is part of a longer series titled ‘Baalbeck’ out of her book Time translated by Sarah Riggs and published by Nightboat books . I hope I’ve done this poem some type of justice in its reading, and if any of you had not known Et...

Unfortunately passing away in 2004, Hilst was a force of Brazilian literature. This book is a masterpiece, and I think one that any person interested in life, living, death, and dying, should consider reading once or maybe five times. If you are interested in the work, please know you can buy it from CO*IM*PRESS here . Riantly, or with Laughter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new pos...

You can find Seiferle’s work here through one of her publishers or ordered through your local bookstore. Thank you for reading Riantly, or with Laughter. This post is public so feel free to share it. I would recommend, if you were to start reading her, to either start with this work or with Bitters. Poetry is an illumination of truth. Some truths are hard; others are uplifting. I also feel that il...

The stunning work of “Aviary,” is that the poems resist a conclusive logic in much the same way as you would imagine birds do. After all, if birds aren’t real then how can they follow reality? This poem I think toes the line between having a concrete line it wants the reader to acknowledge, to know, and teasing us along this line until we end at the final lyrics of the poem, “how often you may vis...

“I face toward the unknown and adamantly reel.” Was such a provocative line that I found myself thinking of it over and over days after reading it. Wanted to share this poem with you, my love. Get full access to Riantly, or with Laughter at riantly.substack.com/subscribe