January & February 2025

POETRY Magazine - January & February 2025, Volume 225, Number 4

Best Poem of the Issue: Shubhi Sahni - Hindsight

Overall Issue Rating: 5/5

• Elizabeth Acevedo

  • Guest Editor’s Note Rating 5/5

• Jesse Holth

  • Letter to Us, Younger Rating 4/5

• Miguel A. Vega

  • Wanderlust Rating 3/5

• Allison Swenson

  • Elementary Magic Rating 5/5

• Audrey Rose

  • the crop top quandary—dept. store edition Rating 5/5

• Cecelia Taunton

  • Changes Rating 4/5

• T.S. Leonard

  • Instructions for Building Your First Time Machine Rating 4/5

  • The Time Traveler Finally Falls in Love Rating 5/5

• Vanessa Deering

  • so coffee is a laxative & i am writing this poem on the toilet Rating 4/5

• Jessica Jiang

  • March Rating 3/5

• Gavriella Gilbert

  • Her Grimoire Rating 4/5

• Colby Cedar Smith

  • Skeleton Key Rating 4/5

• Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi

  • Gratification to the survivors of daily damnations Rating 2/5

• Olive Franklin

  • Eileen Rating 5/5

• Jay Jerbi

  • How Did You Know You Were Trans? Rating 1/5

• Rasaq Malik Gbolahan

  • As a child, I knew nothing about grief Rating 3.5/5

• Shubhi Sahni

  • Hindsight Rating 5/5

• Janiru Liyanage

  • Ars Poetica: Ambulthiyal Abecedarian Rating 5/5

  • Orange Tree Rating 3/5

• Maeve Marien-McManus

  • Beach Rating 1/5

• Khari Dawson

  • Mother’s Mother Rating 2.5/5

• Trina Das

  • Scissors Like Caesars Rating 4/5

• Ariana Lee

  • Salt and Sea Rating 3/5

• Hannah Bambach

  • Omen Rating 2.5/5

• Sarah Aziz

  • this is how you send off a sixteen-year-old daughter you know you’ll never see again Rating 5/5

  • Appi’s Lullaby Rating 1.5/5

• Amelia Loeffler

  • Girl Blood Ritual One Rating 4/5

  • Girl Blood Ritual Two Rating 5/5

• Evan Wang

  • 母念 // 思母 Rating 4/5

• Lesley Younge

  • Dispatch from the Edge of the Universe Rating 5/5

• Tamsin Moore

  • Lana Del Rey on Country Roads Rating 1/5

• Abriella Guertin

  • Tangled Braids Rating 5/5

• Zoe Dorado

  • Prestige Rating 5/5

• Dianna Vega

  • boy laughs at my period-stained skirt Rating 3/5

• Max Fischer

  • Closets Are Made of Midwestern Thunderstorms Rating 5/5

• Kaylee Cheng

  • Things not to do to a grieving mother Rating 2.5/5

• Margarita Engle

  • How to Awaken a Sleeping Language Rating 2/5

• Caroline Laganas

  • Wild Blueberry Muffins for Beginners Rating 4/5

• Phil Kaye

  • Two Bills Rating 5/5

• Shira Haus

  • Universal Truths Rating 5/5

• Fatimah Asghar

  • He Was Chaotic Rating 2/5

  • the women in my family Rating 2/5

• Harrison Hamm

  • Burn Theory Rating 2.5/5

  • Notes for the Newly Winged Rating 3/5

• Nicole Tallman

  • Middle School Dance Rating 3/5

• Anya Johnson

  • Where the Sky Is Rating 5/5

• Serena Alagappan

  • Sycamore Rating 4/5

• Ide Amari Thompson

  • Rain Song Rating 4/5

• Kyle Okeke

  • The Sun, in Lagos Rating 0/5

• Kate Hubbard

  • First Rating 4/5

• Yetta Rose Stein

  • Ennui When Watching the Ocean Rating 5/5

• Carole Boston Weatherford

  • Lullaby of Jazz Land: A Found Poem Comprised of Titles from the American Songbook Rating 3/5

  • Where’s My Moon? Rating 2/5