Moondrunk on Diwali - New Poem on Rattle Magazine

Happy Diwali, folks! I’m thrilled to share that my poem “Moondrunk on Diwali” is up at Rattle today—my first published poem.

Huge thanks to Tim Green, Rattle’s editor, for the care he brings to the magazine and the countless hours he gives to poetry. Editing is tough, generous work—making space for others to shine—and from everything I’ve seen these past months, Tim does it in service of poetry.

If you’re new to Rattle: it’s a reader-friendly poetry journal with a subscription base of around 12,000, they read 250,000 poems and publish 300 every year, and their mission is—to promote the practice of poetry. Learn more about Rattle and while you’re visiting, here are three recent poems I loved:

• "Weathering the Storm" - Colleen Farrelly — a science poem, that becomes personal.

• “Vacating” by Michael Brosnan — a thoughtful inventory of work, art, and what we keep.

• “Empathy” by Chelsea McClellan — a devastating and moving poem about pain.

I’ve been learning my way through contemporary poetry for about a decade, but only started submitting to journals last month (mid-September). Four more poems are slated to appear in other magazines soon (The Woolf, Santa Clara Review, UNHOUSED anthology by Prolific Press, Neon & Smoke) —more on that when they land. 

I guess am having some beginner's luck. But its not all luck.  I wanted to thank to a few friends & contemporary poetry teachers who shaped my work: Robert Hass (initial direction in 2008), the late Tony Hoagland (encouragement and generosity to use his poems on my blog), Billy Collins (his poems, his masterclass, his advice on flow, titles, and wonder), Kristen Mears (for editing some of my poetry over the past 2 years), Jane Hirshfield (for her essays, poetry readings and receptivity), Hannah Yerrington (to firm my believe in the poetry of joy/praise), Tess Taylor (for her poetry submissions class), Maggie Queeney (for her form/repetition classes at the Poetry Foundation -- this poem came from an assignment in her class), Maya Popa (for her class on how to review poems).  Also to the Seekers and Seers group who get to bear some of the raw poems I am writing, and still encourage me.