Laurel Review

I'm pleased as punch to have two poems in the beautiful new issue of Laurel Review, alongside so many poets whose work I admire. Thanks to John Gallaher.

New Poem in Colorado Review

Many thanks to Donald Revell and the whole Colorado Review team for publishing my "Something Like Life" in the fabulous new issue of Colorado Review.

Broadview Press: 2022 English Studies & Literature Catalogue

I'm delighted that my new craft text is included in Broadview's 2022 English Studies & Literature catalogue. Take a look at their many wonderful offerings.

Cover Reveal

 Coming this Spring from Broadview Press!

New Poems in Guesthouse: A Panoply of Modern Writing

I'm honored to be included in the fabulous new issue of Guesthouse. Special thanks to Jane Huffman for her thoughtful discussion of my poems-- 

I struggled to end this foreword, perhaps because all 30 of these pieces move with tremendous, ongoing energy. I feel propelled forward by their stories and songs, which tell not of ends but of beginnings and middles, upsets and restarts, histories made and re-made. And so instead, I’ll let Ethel Rackin have the last word, whose triptych of modified ghazals beautifully and strangely embody the issue’s theme of “origin.” They re-imagine the “ghazal,” a traditional Arabic poetic form, first recorded in the seventh century, that requires several formal elements. Rackin chooses to emphasize a single traditional parameter — that the poet name themselves. As such, these poems honor the form’s ancient origin to an extent, but they stand on their own, formless and irreverent. “Tomorrow is gone—,” she writes in “Red Ghazal,” which could stand in as a thesis statement for Issue 8 at large. “Raise the red lantern / blue heron nights / faded red sun / end the errands / the distractions / [. . .] / your last day’s come / Ethel Rackin.” I extend the same call to you, reader, as you enter to Issue 8. 

 

Jane Huffman, editor-in-chief

 

 

Allium

 I'm delighted to have two poems in the beautiful inaugural issue of Allium: A Journal of Poetry & Prose. 

Alium is the new multi-genre print and online publication of the Columbia College of Chicago's English Department. Many thanks to Tony Trigilio, Cora Jacobs, and the whole Alium crew.

 

Six Poems in One Art

 Here are six poems of mine. Thank you for giving them a home in One Art, Mark Danowsky.

Six Poems by Ethel Rackin

August 27, 2021 ~ ONE ART

Pride

Some things go with it—
the anxious stares
the desire to attenuate things—
so that a flower in a vase
stands just
as it is
as long as it is
invisibly and because.

*

The Color of Trees

All these creatures filled
with petrified wood
as I am—little bird—
as I am—snow-filled skull—
ornamental nightingale—
so my early years and late
stretch in a thin line—
break and breathe—
as trees thrown by a river
rise—what’s the difference
bird—call me if you need
any 200-year-old trees.

*

Frets

The forest will take you—
you with your sudden
aching parts
your steely starts
and uneven gait
your unconscious fits—
don’t fret, Friend, walk—
something will roll you
something will lift you up
as if by wind—
a frond.
A river walk.

*

Idyll

Something it is that hangs
on the backs of bushes—
laundry-line or vine, half-
occluded woodbine—
or those rotten birches—
the hollow ones—now
that we’ve become
no more useful to them
than this unpredictable sun.

*

Another Summer

Dogs walked the streets
trees snuck behind shadows
the world was an alley
in my heart a tune played
ice fell and melted
large drinks were served
these were the salad days
but we didn’t yet know it
we were so busy counting
our private miseries
our secret wishes.

*

Remains

What remains in my notebook
now that the day is done
here on this sick planet
I think I’ll pour another
look up at the dim
stars—for tonight
they’re on fire.

*

Ethel Rackin is the author of three books of poetry: The Forever Notes (Parlor Press, 2013), Go On (Parlor Press, 2016), and Evening (Furniture Press, 2017). Her new text, Crafting Poems and Stories: A Guide to Creative Writing, is forthcoming from Broadview Press. Poems are forthcoming in Allium, Colorado Review, and Guesthouse.