One of the best parts of starting a new month is finding poems that encompass the issues I’ve been struggling with over the past 30 days (here’s the most recent collection!). This edition of poems in January features pieces from a few of my new favorite chapbooks I received for Christmas including If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar, Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith, and the Poetry Out Loud Anthology I found during my last trip to the Honolulu State Art Museum with Brandon and Kaiʻolu. Each piece made me hold my breath like I would going through the H-3 tunnel or if I were re-reading Call Me By Your Name (still obsessed and forever will be) because of their raw honesty and use of imagery and language in ways I wouldn’t have expected. I am truly inspired by this month’s collection of poems in January and I hope they make you think and feel as much as they did me.
