My latest poem is out in Apogee Journal!

There was a period earlier this year when I’d gone nearly three months without finishing a poem. I felt like I was constantly writing—and I later counted 22 drafts of poems-in-progress—but for some reason, I had a block, and I couldn’t seem to finish any of them.

Until I wrote “ekphrastic under a bombed-out sky.”

I separated from my husband and was in the process of reclaiming my house as my space, so I bought an abstract painting from a vintage shop in town. I don’t normally go for abstracts, but I liked the colors and art featuring discernable objects and people felt… wrong. How could I look at happy art when my people were suffering and being genocided back in Palestine?

Then, I read Obit by Victoria Chang. In one of her poems, she described grief in terms of art, and suddenly, it clicked. The words that poured out were the first poem I finished in 2024.

I’m so proud that poem has found a home in Apogee Journal. Please read “ekphrastic under a bombed-out sky” there.