Summer 2020

oil painting of dense ocean water and a orange yellow sunset

Auguries of Heavy Weather

I. The gale seems to blow up out of nowhere just as the two of us are lumbering John’s dory into the river. Whipping past the headland, wind and rain sledge me in the chest. I’m shoved back, off-balance. Trying not to lose my grip on Selkie, I stretch out towards her from the landing, …

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gold sunlight on clouds

Apocalyptic Love Song

Apocalyptic Love Song Longing lengthens. The heart muscles over. What in the world is not a force of its own reckoning. We worship the sheen on the surface of the same lake that let our girls drown. How easily we trade our own breath for the idea that love is stronger when slipped inside the …

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Lifting the Page promo with 2 MQR books

Self Portraiture

Discover different ways to approach the self portrait and the history of the “Golden Shovel” through this lesson plan based on poems from Yusef Komunyakaa and Lesley Wheeler from the Summer 2020 Issue of MQR.

marble sculpture of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Why I Chose It: Michigan Quarterly Review Reader Bryan Byrdlong introduces Alana Folsom’s “Winged Victory of Samothrace” from our Summer 2020 issue. From the beginning of Alana Folsom’s, “Winged Victory of Samothrace” we might think that we are embarking on an exclusively ekphrastic journey. The title is of course a direct reference to the marble sculpture of Nike, the Greek …

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zoomed in photo of a spiderweb with dandelion fragments trapped in it

Yes, It Could Be Worse

Hit play below to hear Yusef Komunyakaa read his poem “Yes, It Could Be Worse” and scroll down for the full text. The poem is featured in MQR’s Summer 2020 issue. MQR · Yusef Komunyakaa – It Could Be Worse I was not strong as Jean Valjean though my muscles knew weight & scent of pine from …

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painted coins with different faces on them

Essay on Money

My scars are currently valued at $1,149.28 (81.44 hours of my labor). The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams Vol 1: 1909-1939 costs $27.85 (1.98 hours).The head of Orpheus retains no monetary value.

water color of earth and eve

Eve From Above

Hit play below to hear Kate Partridge read her poem “Eve from Above” and scroll down for the full text. “Eve From Above” is featured in MQR’s Summer 2020 issue. Eve From Above Enter dipping close to the mountains, the sheep bouldering their positions along the ridge. As long as you can feel the air pressing against the …

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