My poem “And I Say Yes to the Way the Grass” is featured in the window of the Harvard Coop as part of the Harvard Square Poetry Stroll, sponsored by Longfellow House, the Harvard Square Business Association, and Mass Poetry.

My poem “And I Say Yes to the Way the Grass” is featured in the window of the Harvard Coop as part of the Harvard Square Poetry Stroll, sponsored by Longfellow House, the Harvard Square Business Association, and Mass Poetry.
I’ve just had a poem published by ONE ART: a journal of poetry. Here is its opening, and a link to the entire poem.
The rain has swelled the scent of sod’s decay.
You squat to a toad, squashed except its head,
I’ve just had a poem published by NIXES MATE . Here is its opening, and a link to the entire poem.
Homo sapiens – died after a long and
debilitating illness on August 13, 2121. An
autopsy attributed the cause of death to
omnicide.
I’ve just had a poem published by Hare’s Paw. Scroll down until you reach me. Here is its opening, and a link to the entire poem.
Morning fog a blur of firs light-green on the far shore
I look up a flock of swallows unfurls
I’ve just had a poem published on the South Florida Poetry Journal web page. Here is my opening, and a link to the entire poem.
Note that there is no clickable link to my section. I am listed alphabetically, so you must scroll down to see it.
As a bonus, there is an audio link to my reading of this poem.
—after the film The Octopus Teacher
I’m thinking about how she opens every one of her three hearts,
and all the brain cells in her eight arms,
I’ve just had a poem published on the Mass Poetry web page. I was asked by them to also compose a “writing prompt” based on my poem. Every poem they post is accompanied by a prompt so that readers might try writing in response to the poem.
My poem appears with “How to Skip Stones” by Ed Meek. Here is my opening, and a link to the entire poem.
needs the soil and the soil needs the grass,
the way the candle needs the wick
and the wick needs the candle. Yes
I’ll be reading virtually in the Rozzie Reads in the poetry series on Thursday, June 17, at 7 pm. I’d be delighted to see you there. Please note that you will need to get the link by emailing hguran@aol.com.
Born and raised in the Philippines, José Edmundo Ocampo Reyes is the author of Present Values, winner of the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award from the New England Poetry Club. His poems have appeared most recently in Scoundrel Time, Solstice, and Memorious; and have been anthologized in The Powow River Anthology (Volumes I and II), Villanelles, and The Achieve Of, The Mastery: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English, mid-‘90s to 2016.
Wendy Drexler’s third poetry collection, Before There Was Before, was published by Iris Press in 2017. Her poems have appeared in Barrow Street, J Journal, Lily Poetry Review, Nimrod, Pangyrus, Prairie Schooner, Salamander, South Florida Poetry Review, among others. Her work has been featured on Verse Daily and WBUR’s Cognoscenti, and in numerous anthologies. She is poet in residence at New Mission High School in Hyde Park, MA, and is programming co-chair for the New England Poetry Club.
Here is an image of my poem recently published in the latest issue of Mom Egg Review (#19).
Note that both printed copies and PDFs of this issue are available for purchase at the web site.
I’ll be one of a number of poets teaching online poetry classes over the next two weeks.
Mass Poetry put together this video featuring all the poets. Each of us reads a poem and responds to a question about poetry. The video is 30 minutes long but if you want to see me, scroll to 4 minutes to hear my poems and to 23:14 to hear me talk about the kinds of poems I like to read.
If you want to see the video in a larger format, click Watch on Youtube on the lower left.
Note: I was not told the question beforehand.
Enjoy!
I am having a virtual poetry reading on Friday! Here is the information.
If you would like to attend via Zoom, contact Richard Waring at this link.
Or send him a direct email at rwaring@nejm.org.