What follows is a series of poems responding to a prompt that each poem's writing process begin with an annoying or boring but necessary task. I made this prompt after reading Audre Lorde's essay "Poetry is Not a Luxury," which argues for poetry's essential role in opening up spaces of feeling within a culture that emphasizes ideas. When we use language to explore and name these inchoate spaces, we begin the work of dismantling pervasive sexist and racist norms.
"In the forefront of our move toward change, there is only poetry to hint at the possibility made real." - Audre Lorde
Miguel Ayala, ZZ Krebs, Yoshie Sakai, Victoria Aravindhan, Celeste Morton, Byron Westbrook, Michelle A. M. Miller, Faatimah Muhammad, Sterling Wells, Lisa Armstrong, Chris Wawrinofsky, David Ertel, David Schafer, Evelena Ruether, Mollie Murphy, Christy Roberts Berkowitz, Alan Tofighi, Tom Kotik, Vanessa Holyoak, Ieva Raudsepa, Christina Huang, Beth Fiedorek, Provisional Collective, Cameron Cameron, Max Maslansky, Michael Ned Holte, Silvi Naçi, Jisoo Chung
