Axis of Abraxas: A Poetry Blog

New Poem in The Baffler

2026-09-01T17:12:16.973+09:00

I'm really pleased to have a new poem Intrusive Sonnet in the August 2026 issue of The Baffler. Please have a look.

New Poem in Epoch

2026-08-25T11:11:51.798+09:00

I have a new poem in Epoch, a literary journal out of Cornell University. This poem is available only through print copies of the journal (not online). Usually I don't post my poems that appear only in print journals, as it would be best to encourage prospective readers to buy a copy of the journal, to support the journal that has supported my work by publishing it. That has been my policy, but I am wondering if it's an efficacious personal policy, as no one has ever told me that they have bought a copy of a journal to just read my poem.

So, if anyone reads this blog (and why would they? nobody reads blogs anymore) and has an opinion on the matter, let me know what you think. Would you, or do you, post poems that appear only in print journals and are not available online?

Meanwhile, this time I am posting the poem that appears in Epoch, to see how it feels, to see what happens.

Winnowed

I want to want to be good.
I want to want to be used by God.

That one degree of separation—

jellyfish wish: to be

a bell the color of water

submerged, held by the water

it holds yet

never becoming the water.

This asymptotic ache, this spat-out

lukewarmness, this inside-out hairshirt—

a wavering, this oneness with wind.

Like Saint Augustine, like Jonah not yet swallowed—

I wish I wished to rise

from this hammock to herald,

to summon, to be someone

else. Windfall apples.

New Poem at En*Trance

2026-06-24T10:10:17.225+09:00

I have a new poem at the fairly newish journal En*Trance, alongside two of my poetry idols, Jane Hirshfield and Danusha Lameris--eeek. Their guidelines ask for "poems about altered states." So the journal has an interesting mission.

My poem appears wonky on my screen; it's supposed to be two stanzas of seven lines each. However, when I asked the editors, they sent me a screen shot of their screen, where it looked just as it was supposed to. Hopefully on your screen, it appears correctly.

Anyway, here it is, That Moment.

New Poem at Redivider

2025-11-16T10:25:00.002+09:00

Delighted to have a poem in Redivider Issue 23.1, out of Emerson College. This issue is one of their Blurred Genre series. The title of my poem is 'Visual Purple.'

This poem obliquely describes a scientific experiment to determine if the last image one sees before death is recorded on one's retina. I'm interested in this (specious) idea for various reasons: because I have an interest in true crime, and because a beloved family member suffers from a disease of the retina.

Thanks to editors JP Legarte and Haley Brock, and a particular shout-out to Olivia Johnson for her careful work on the layout and editing.

Enjoy!

New Poem at Poet Lore

2025-08-15T12:25:00.001+09:00

Thanks to editor Emily Holland, I have a new poem at Poet Lore (Vol. 119, Winter/Spring 2025), with the longish title of 'Opacity in Seven Parts.'

Here's the first part of the poem:

Opacity, in Seven Parts

“Note that the word mute (from Latin mutus and Greek μύειν) is regarded by linguists as an onomatopoeic formation referring not to silence but to a certain fundamental opacity of human being, which likes to show the truth by allowing it to be seen hiding.” ~Anne Carson

My mind has many moving parts,

pulleys and levers and axles,

an endless Rube Goldberg contraption

whose chain action I cannot follow.

You want me to be more specific.

To do that, I must do two things:

put an asterisk on the words ‘My mind,’

and provide an elaborate footnote.

But if I put an asterisk there, I’d have

to put an asterisk everywhere.

***

Here's a list of poets in the issue: Deidra Greenleaf Allan ● Christine Barkley ● Kimberly Blaeser ● Clara Burghelea ● Yosa Buson ● Josh Calladine ● Lauren Camp ● Todd Campbell ● MICHAEL CHANG ● Cortney Lamar Charleston ● Jo Blair Cipriano ● Melissa Crowe ● Monica Cure ● Emerson Dawes ● Gregory Djanikian ● Asa Drake ● Kinsale Drake ● Meg Eden ● Luke Eldredge ● Sarah Ellis ● Joshua Gage ● Gabriella Garcia ● Brandi George ● Jana-Lee Germaine ● Jessica Goodfellow ● Justin Groppuso-Cook ● Claire Hermann ● Victor Hugo ● John James ● Kaylee Young-Eun Jeong ● Kang Jijaedang ● W. Todd Kaneko ● Elina Katrin ● Patrick Kindig ● BEE LB ● Suphil Lee Park ● Ștefan Manasia ● Kaecey McCormick ● Rachel Morgan ● Maureen Morris ● Cindy Juyoung Ok ● Kyle Okeke ● Elise Paschen ● Natalie Perman ● Lizzy 柯 (Ke) Polishan ● Jessica Nirvana Ram ● Rainer Maria Rilke ● Arthur Rimbaud ● Sally Rosen Kindred ● Henk Rossouw ● Amanda Maret Scharf ● Andrej Stankovič ● Sarah Anne Stinnett ● Jennifer K. Sweeney ● Julene Waffle ● Maggie Wang ● Danielle Weeks ● Katherine J. Williams ● Matthew Wimberley ● Terri Witek ● Allya Yourish

Enjoy!

New Poem at Action, Spectacle

2025-04-15T08:12:00.003+09:00

I have a new poem in Action, Spectacle, thanks to editor Adam Day. Check it out alongside the work of Beth Ann Fennelly, Maureen Alsop, Subhaga Crystal Bacon, Ellen Kombiyil, and so many others.

Two New Poems at Little Free Lit Mag

2025-01-18T11:55:00.003+09:00

Little Free Lit Mag, brainchild of editor Sarah Ann Winn, is a downloadable lit mag you can fold into a small magazine and share. To stay small and portable, it features smaller poems. I'm thrilled to have two poems in the second issue, alongside the work of Laura Foley, TJ Poulson, Renee Emerson, and Marjorie Maddox, among others.

Here the beginning of a sonnet:

I hope you'll read the end of it, or read my other poem, or enjoy the entire issue.

Moon City

2024-12-26T06:59:00.004+09:00

I had a poem in Moon City Review 2024, which came out last spring. Somehow I lost track of that, which is a shame--Moon City is a consistently strong publisher, and I'm thrilled to have worked there. Thanks to editors Michael Czyzniejewski, Sara Burge, Joel Coltharp, Jennifer Murvin, and John Turner. Check it out.

Two Poems at Anti-Heroin Chic

2024-12-10T13:16:00.000+09:00

I'm grateful to editor James Diaz at Anti-Heroin Chic for publishing two of my new poems today. Please have a look.

Poem at Silver Birch Press

2024-10-10T05:13:00.006+09:00

I have a new poem at Silver Birch Press in their "All About My Mother" series. Mine is "My Mother Has a Favorite Everything, and of Colors, It is Orange." Enjoy.

SoFloPoJo Reading Coming Up!

2024-08-09T12:37:00.001+09:00

I'm one of the readers at the launch poetry reading for the new issue of SoFloPoJo is coming up Friday Aug 9th, 2024 @ 7:30 PM EST. Register here to join us.

New Poem in South Florida Poetry Journal

2024-08-02T08:32:00.002+09:00

I'm grateful to have a new poem at South Florida Poetry Journal. Called 'Difficulties in Translation,' that's what it's about--living in and between two languages. Here's how it begins:

Difficulties in Translation

The title of a painting by a Japanese artist

was translated as ‘Categories of Difficulty’―

by whom? the artist?

by the museum?

As nouns in Japanese are not inflected

for number, the title might have been

rendered as ‘Categories of Difficulties’ or

‘Category of Difficulties’ or

‘Category of Difficulty.’

How in van Gogh’s painting we cannot tell if the blackbirds are flying into the canvas

or out of it.

Or the strange ways angels mispronounce your name.

***************

To read the full poem, go to:

https://www.southfloridapoetryjournal.com/ Just scroll down--poets are alphabetized by last name (I'm under Goodfellow). If viewing on your phone, turn it sideways to get a better sense of intended line breaks.

Four Poems at Poets for Science

2023-12-31T16:11:00.001+09:00

I have four poems up now at Jane Hirshfield's Poets for Science Global Gallery. Tons of science-related poems over there. Check them out.

Here are mine:

Radium Girls, first published in The Westchester Review

Darwin's Conjecture, first published in The Threepenny Review

Mendeleev's Mandala, the title poem of my second book

Lagrange's Problem, first published in Diagram, and included in my first book, The Insomniac's Weather Report

I'm hoping to have a few more, once I've checked on the rights, so if interested, stay tuned.

Secular Cubist

2023-12-20T20:15:00.000+09:00

The November/December 2023 issue (Vol. 11.5) of TAB Journal (out of Chapman University) is now available online. My poem "Secular Cubist" is included alongside poems by Angie Macri, Susan Rich, Lynne Schmidt, Dustin Brookshire, and Ellen Kombiyil, among others.

Thanks to editor Anna Leahy, you can listen to "Secular Cubist" by scrolling down the page here, or you can download the entire issue. You can also order a print copy of the issue at the same page.

Shout Out for Whiteout from Michigan

2023-12-20T20:06:00.002+09:00

I'm delighted to find Whiteout recommended in 'The Ultimate Outdoorsy Book Guide' at Michigander Natalie's blog Travel Over MI Way. If you've read Whiteout, check out Natalie's list for other good reads. If you haven't yet read Whiteout, what are you waiting for? Check out what Natalie has to say about if you are on the fence.

Whiteout on Sale for 50% off!

2023-12-12T05:44:00.002+09:00

All books at University of Alaska Press are on sale for 50% off, including my book Whiteout.

Last Chance for 50% off!

All titles and formats

Visit our website and enter promo code HOLIDAY23 to order

(sale ends 12/15/2023)

Verse Daily!

2023-11-15T17:17:00.002+09:00

Nice to have a poem featured at Verse Daily today, thanks to J P Dancing Bear, The Cincinnati Review, Lisa Ampleman, and Rebecca Lindenberg.

Two Poems at Air/Light Magazine

2023-10-18T08:18:00.006+09:00

"Ritual is six parts repetition, one part magic." That's the opening line from one of the two poems I have up at Air/Light Magazine today. If you are inclined, please enjoy.

Oh, and I got a Best of the Net nomination recently too, from Unlost Journal, for my sequence of collage/cut-ups "Winter: Echoes."

New Poem at One Art

2023-09-09T09:18:00.004+09:00

Friends, I have a new poem at One Art, thanks to editor Mark Danowsky. Here's the first line: 'Because we were waiting for the end of days, we drank'

You can read the rest here.

Thanks for your support, my few but dedicated followers.

New Poem at Psaltery & Lyre

2023-08-08T06:19:00.003+09:00

Grateful to have a new poem at Psaltery & Lyre, 'Relief.' Much thanks to editor Millie Tullis.

Funny story--I have been sending this poem out for a while, and was ready to give up on it when Psaltery & Lyre took a chance on it. Immediately after agreeing to their terms, I received an email saying that this poem was accepted by yet another journal who had been holding onto it for nearly a year. I had withdrawn the poem from them but they had missed that note. However, they had accepted two poems, the other still available, and then asked me to send more as they wanted a pair, so I sent them the only four poems I have available right now (that's a low stockpile for me). They selected another poem from the batch. So, a win all around (except now I'm down to only three poems available--writing not going well for, oh, about a year now).

Two New Poems at The Shore

2023-03-21T15:29:00.000+09:00

I'm delighted to have two new poems at The Shore. Here's a prose poem called 'Issues in Pronunciation.' And here's a poem called 'Green as Fixative, When Nothing Else Stays Fixed.' Thrilled to be in the same issue as Jill Khoury, Jill Kitchen, and Jen Karetnik.

Two New Poems in On the Seawall

2023-03-08T06:13:00.001+09:00

I have been enamored of Ron Slate's On the Seawall pretty much since its inception, and I cannot believe I have two poems in the latest issue. I'd love it if you'd check them out, along with the other great writing in the issue.

Two New Poems in South Dakota Review

2023-02-17T06:07:00.004+09:00

I've got a two new poems out in the South Dakota Review, issue 57.2. Not available online, but you can order it here, if interested.

Unlost

2023-02-16T08:18:00.001+09:00

Unlost Journal publishes all kinds of hybrid pieces that use source materials: cut-ups, collages, erasures, centos, found poems, etc. Always stimulating to have a look at what Dale Wisely and the crew is publishing.

The latest edition (#30) includes a cut-up/collage with a twist by me (replacing the words writer/s with winter/s), called "Winter: Echoes." Since winter lingers (at least here in Japan), it's a timely read. Enjoy all the creative offerings in this issue, and previous ones as well!

Finalist at Orison. Yay! But also, Boo....

2023-02-06T10:18:00.005+09:00

My manuscript Else was a finalist for the Orison Chapbook Prize. I love Orison Books, and would be ecstatic to be published by them, but not this time.

In the meantime, in the gap between when I sent them this manuscript and when the results of the contest were announced, this book has gone from chapbook length to full manuscript length. Perhaps I'll send it again to Orison under the new category....who knows. This whole submissions thing is so disheartening....