Locations: A Poetry Sampler

The notion of a sense of place is bound to our memories of the world and to self-understanding. Places as such are composed of many elements that are highly variable and infinitely different. Yet all have in common the general truth that they are settings for our lives and self-awareness.

~Laurie Olin, “Landscape Meditation in American Verse”

We’re offering here poems that have at their core the notion of place, whether named (Holston Mountain, Cumberland Falls, Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania) or unnamed (a hillside, a forest, a road home). These poems center themselves in a location unique to the speaker but that offer vistas and emotional associations for us all as readers. With all credit to our fabulous contributors, we’re grateful to have such a graphic and meaningful place-based sampler to give you this summer. 

~Marianne Worthington, poetry editor

Samantha DeFlitch

Women's Work

Karen George
Ammassing a Map: A Cento

David S. Higdon
The Place We Call Home

Christina Linsin
Thirst

Michael Lyle
Home After Europe

William Rieppe Moore
Poem Formerly Known as "Ode for Holston Mountain in the Spring"

Kevin Nance
Mea Culpa in Lexington Cemetery

Sarah Pennington
Exorcism

Barbara Sabol
At the Plots of the Unknowns

Jessica Willingham
Whole Life Honey 

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