Elisa Rowe – Michigan Quarterly Review

Elisa Rowe

Elisa Rowe (she/her) is a neurodivergent immigrant, writer, educator, and poet. Her debut chapbook, "Every Imagined Tundra," was published in January 2022 by Bottlecap Press. You can read more of her work in Michigan Quarterly Review, SAND Journal, Sable Books' anthology: The Ending Hasn't Happened Yet, Sojourners Magazine, and elsewhere. For more information or to connect with Elisa go to www.elisarowe.com or follow her on Twitter @elisacwrites.

If a Poem Is a Border We Can Cross

Homeland is where one’s wake was held and so— ]] No crueler word than return. No greater lie. The gates may open but to return. More gates were built inside. (“Without Which,” Customs, Solmaz Sharif) Solmaz Sharif is an award winning Iranian-American poet. Look, her first collection, was a finalist for the National Book Award. […]

If a Poem Is a Border We Can Cross Read More »

Homeland is where one’s wake was held and so— ]] No crueler word than return. No greater lie. The gates may open but to return. More gates were built inside. (“Without Which,” Customs, Solmaz Sharif) Solmaz Sharif is an award winning Iranian-American poet. Look, her first collection, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

What We Learn From Losses: A Review of Fighting Is Like a Wife by Eloisa Amezcua

On March 16, 1982 the New York Times reported that “Valerie Chacon, 31 years old, was said to have died at home of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head […] she had apparently been upset because her husband would not quit the ring until after his next fight.” Over 30 years later, on September 10th, 2016 another

What We Learn From Losses: A Review of Fighting Is Like a Wife by Eloisa Amezcua Read More »

On March 16, 1982 the New York Times reported that “Valerie Chacon, 31 years old, was said to have died at home of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head […] she had apparently been upset because her husband would not quit the ring until after his next fight.” Over 30 years later, on September 10th, 2016 another

My Empire and My God: A Review of Pilgrim Bell

In addition to history, the divine, and stories from sacred texts, the speaker also wrestles with empire. In the poem “My Empire,” the speaker says, “My empire made me happy / because it was an empire, cruel, / and the suffering wasn’t my own.”

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In addition to history, the divine, and stories from sacred texts, the speaker also wrestles with empire. In the poem “My Empire,” the speaker says, “My empire made me happy / because it was an empire, cruel, / and the suffering wasn’t my own.”

Dopplegangbanger by Cortney Lamar Charleston Book Cover

The Polarities of a Black Boy: a review of Cortney Lamar Charleston’s Dopplegangbanger

According to his website, Cortney Lamar Charleston is a poet whose words “paint themselves against the backgrounds of past and present.” Identity, he says, is, “functionally, a transition zone” between “race, masculinity, class, family, and faith.” In his latest collection, Dopplegangbanger, there is a conflict of the soul.  The opening poem, “The Unauthorized Biography of

The Polarities of a Black Boy: a review of Cortney Lamar Charleston’s Dopplegangbanger Read More »

According to his website, Cortney Lamar Charleston is a poet whose words “paint themselves against the backgrounds of past and present.” Identity, he says, is, “functionally, a transition zone” between “race, masculinity, class, family, and faith.” In his latest collection, Dopplegangbanger, there is a conflict of the soul.  The opening poem, “The Unauthorized Biography of

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