think of honey
Apr. 26th, 2026 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oliviacirceI really love this poem, but also, I don't know, it definitely feels like a good one for today (this week, this month, this year, this decade).
( Protest Poem )
( Protest Poem )
oliviacirce
we are learning to make fire
Apr. 25th, 2026 08:41 pmoliviacirceThis is a punch-in-the-stomach poem about marriage and is maybe not exactly in keeping with the extremely nice vacation weekend I have run away to the woods to have with my wonderful wife. But also I really love this poem and have wanted to post it all month, so. To me this is still a love poem, in its way.
( Habitation )
( Habitation )
tender mammals
Apr. 24th, 2026 09:12 pmoliviacirceThe wonderful poetryisnotaluxury posted a Joy Sullivan poem today ("On Days I Hate My Body, I Remember Redwoods") and I almost just copied them and posted the same one, because it's so fucking good. But here's a different one, instead.
( Instinct )
( Instinct )
if and and but
Apr. 24th, 2026 12:49 pmoliviacirceYesterday was Shakespeare's (alleged) birthday, so here (a day late, because yesterday was a little bit of a doozy) is a Shakespeare poem! It is also a poem about horses, since I haven't posted one of those yet this year, and is obviously a sonnet.
( Shakespeare's Horse )
( Shakespeare's Horse )
one of a billion small miracles
Apr. 22nd, 2026 07:24 pmoliviacirceIt's Earth Day! I also missed yesterday, so here are two poems that go really well together, in my opinion. Variations on a theme!
( Third Rock from the Sun )
*
( On Earth As It Is On Earth )
( Third Rock from the Sun )
*
( On Earth As It Is On Earth )
Search maintenance
Apr. 22nd, 2026 09:19 am![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
mark posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceHappy Wednesday!
I'm taking search offline sometime today to upgrade the server to a new instance type. It should be down for a day or so -- sorry for the inconvenience. If you're curious, the existing search machine is over 10 years old and was starting to accumulate a decade of cruft...!
Also, apparently these older machines cost more than twice what the newer ones cost, on top of being slower. Trying to save a bit of maintenance and cost, and hopefully a Wednesday is okay!
Edited: The other cool thing is that this also means that the search index will be effectively realtime afterwards... no more waiting a few minutes for the indexer to catch new content.
burning in the open field
Apr. 18th, 2026 04:52 pmoliviacirceIt is not uncommon for me to sit on a poem for years and years before posting it, because I collect poems and only have 30(ish) spots per year. I've had this one in the file for long enough that I have it saved in multiple places, but it never does get less evocative or relevant; it's also fascinating to me how different it is from both his earlier and later poetry, while also using language in such a recognizable way. Is Richard Siken in favor with the internet again? I honestly don't care, but I've always liked his poetry, including back when he was a tumblr fandom darling. This is not really a tumblr fandom poem, but it sticks with me.
( Landscape with a Blur of Conquerors )
( Landscape with a Blur of Conquerors )
wild iris, duff, waterfall, dew
Apr. 17th, 2026 08:13 pmoliviacirceTake me back to the woods, please. (But actually, I took two pretty nice walks today; could be worse.)
( Yes, That's When )
( Yes, That's When )
forged by the heart
Apr. 16th, 2026 01:19 pmoliviacirceI am posting this in honor of tonight's season finale of The Pitt, because I simply would not be me doing poetry month if I did not draw fandom poetry parallels. I'm a couple of episodes behind, though, so no spoilers. I also just really love the things Jack Gilbert does with language, and although I was initially going to post a different Gilbert poem this year, this one snuck up on me. I love a poem about place.
( Searching for Pittsburgh )
( Searching for Pittsburgh )
the rapture of being alive
Apr. 15th, 2026 05:46 pmoliviacirceThis one goes out to loons and Shane Hollander and those middle-of-the-night moments of clarity.
( The Loon )
( The Loon )
but yet the body is his book
Apr. 14th, 2026 08:30 pmoliviacirceIt's my birthday! We went to NASA (Space Center Houston!) because I am 41 and still a space kid at heart. I was thinking about space poems to post (or moon poems, or poems about planets), and that got me to a not-super-surprising metaphysical place and then I thought, "I miss inflicting John Donne on people my birthday." So here is a deeply weird Donne poem that I have not posted before. (I posted "The Sun Rising" in 2008, otherwise you'd obviously be getting that one.) But what is this bonkers poem about, you may ask. The body? Sex? Death? Plato? Soul bonds? Being drift compatible with a possibly dead person while sharing a grave? All of the above, probably. It also has one of my favorite and most quintessentially "this is disgusting, bro, what are you doing" Donne couplets, which is the one about the eye-stalks.
( The Ecstasy )
( The Ecstasy )
planet trouble
Apr. 13th, 2026 06:20 pmoliviacirceI post a lot of queer poetry, which should really come as no surprise to anyone. I also buy a lot of poetry books, especially in and around the month of April; when we were in New York last year, I bought Stephanie Burt's 2025 anthology Super Gay Poems, which is really fantastic and highly recommended for both the brilliant essays about each poem and the poems themselves. It also gives me a lot of personal joy because it doesn't have a single poem in it that I've already posted (in 19 years!!), which is so cool and exciting—although there are a handful of poems I've read in the anthology, and several poets I've heard of (or posted other work by), I really love the part of doing this each year where I get to learn and discover new-to-me poems and poets.
Since I skipped yesterday, I am going to indulgently post two poems from the anthology which are completely unrelated, except that they both haunt me (and also both have great enjambment).
( Mermaid )
*
( Heart Condition )
Since I skipped yesterday, I am going to indulgently post two poems from the anthology which are completely unrelated, except that they both haunt me (and also both have great enjambment).
( Mermaid )
*
( Heart Condition )
Weekend notes
Apr. 13th, 2026 11:07 ammarinarusalkaIn a fit of optimism, The Boy and I planted some cherry tomato seedlings behind our condo. Neither one of us has any knowledge or experience of vegetable gardening, so we're going by random internet advice and hoping that the San Diego climate will make up for our inadequacies.
Saturday morning, we went hiking in Torrey Pines, which has been reopened again after being closed all winter "to improve the trails." If there was any actual improvement, we didn't see it, but it was still an excellent hike, with lots of great wildlife views, including a Gray Whale hanging out unusually close to shore. We also spotted three brush rabbits at different spots along the trail, and a flock of migrating lazuli buntings.
( all photos courtesy of The Boy )
Saturday morning, we went hiking in Torrey Pines, which has been reopened again after being closed all winter "to improve the trails." If there was any actual improvement, we didn't see it, but it was still an excellent hike, with lots of great wildlife views, including a Gray Whale hanging out unusually close to shore. We also spotted three brush rabbits at different spots along the trail, and a flock of migrating lazuli buntings.
( all photos courtesy of The Boy )
