Kelli Russell Agodon

Swimming in the clouds

#poetry by Amy Lowell

Cover photo of Accidental Devotions. Text reads Forthcoming May 12

Artist credit with photo of book cover. Text reads: “The artwork was painted by Fatima Ronquillo in 2020, which surprised me—it felt late-eighteenth century to me. As I explored [Fatima’s website], I noticed Emily Dickinson poems (Emily and her ghost appear throughout this book) and even a portfolio titled ‘Devotion.’ Everything fell into place when I saw the full painting—the hands, vines, and hummingbirds—as this book holds that same tension: vulnerable yet deliberate, tender yet wild.” –Kelli Russell Agodon

Forthcoming May 12: ACCIDENTAL DEVOTIONS by KELLI RUSSELL AGODON ( @kelliagodon.bsky.social ).

For today's #coverfeature, Kelli describes the felicitous discovery of her latest collection's cover art:

A gingerbread house but with a wall gently kicked in by a "this came close" rejection.

A gingerbread house but you ate a gingerbread person and now there’s a whole missing-character arc.

A gingerbread house but the roof won’t stay on because you've revised it twelve times.

A gingerbread house but inside it's just you and your imposter syndrome eating gumdrops.

A gingerbread house but every wall keeps collapsing under the weight of your unfinished manuscript.

Poetry Blog Digest 2025, Week 47 A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond.

2/3 @robin-gow-poet.bsky.social @victoriamoul.bsky.social @clareshawpoet.bsky.social @jntod.bsky.social @annettemakino.bsky.social @writtenbyallison.bsky.social @victoriaspires.bsky.social @kelliagodon.bsky.social @kristybowen.bsky.social
www.vianegativa.us/2025/11/poet...

My favorite part of December is writing a poem every day, inspired by @kelliagodon.bsky.social and the Two Sylvias Press Poetry Advent Calendar. They're a stellar way to consider your world, and yourself at the end of your year. Only $25 and supports an exceptional PNW poetry press.

Thx, Sam!

we got lucky today! Yes and yes!

Awww thank you!!

Poets, start your wild, precious engines.

A haunted house but an open mic where every poet reads past their time.

😂😂😂😭

"A collection of empty chairs is called an author reading."

Thank you, Ronita!

Oh thank you for saying that!🙏❤️

Thank you so much, Jane. I so appreciate your words.

We are on loan to each other.

Tell the one you love that you love them while you can.

Thank you, Majda!❤️

Sending love and strength ❤️ There are so many of us moving through this. Wishing you the best.

I love this book!

Absolutely love that final phrase.

From @kathyfagan.bsky.social's book, Bad Hobby: bookshop.org/a/862/9781571315458

#poetry #books #writing

keep your wonder alive, keep your aliveness alive

"her memory is a cloud she can't hold..."

Lots of feels with this poem for my mum. Sent with love for anyone with a parent or loved one with Alzheimer's/dementia. It's a journey.

(And thank you @poetsorg.bsky.social and Rick Barot for sharing this one. It means a lot.)

Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror Kelli Russell Agodon The night sounds like a murder of magpies and we're replacing our cabinet knobs because we can't change the world, but we can change our hardware. America breaks my heart some days, and some days it breaks itself in two. I watched a woman have a breakdown in the mall today and when the security guard tried to help her what I could see was all of us peeking from her purse as she threw it across the floor into Forever 21. And yes, the walls felt like another way to hold us in and when she finally stopped crying, I heard her say to the fluorescent lighting, Some days the sky is too bright. And like that we were her fock in our black coats and white sweaters, some of us reaching our wings to her and some of us flying away.

Today I'm reading - Magpies Recognize
Themselves in the Mirror
~ By Kelli Russell Agodon 🍂
America breaks my heart some days -
I watched a woman have a breakdown in the mall today/what l could see was all of us/Some days the sky is too bright. And like that, we were her-

Everyone Is Acting as if We're Not Temporary, and I Am Falling Apart in the Privacy of My Own Home KELLI RUSSELL AGODON SHARE V When he said, Sometimes we learn the most from losing, I think how often I've been bamboozled by life, how I've dropped a quarter in a slot machine and instead of cherries got coffins. Got death? Yeah, I've seen the grim reaper wander my neighborhood in a Chanel suit and a diamond studded scythe because we all want to be overdressed for the afterlife, we all want to believe there is a special place for us. But when I watched the body of my nana fade into thinness I thought please let me leave early—in a plane crash, car accident, a lightning bolt, don't let me hold on so long I am a body longing for someone to text it —hey babe, I'm kind of into you. To say, I miss you even though I don't visit. Death and we butt dial the wrong person. Death on a good drunk of port. Once I remember my dad saying, You are worth more than you think, as I always sold myself off at a discount and I wish I didn't, I wish I didn't say how much I hurt on social media but sometimes I just want to believe I'm not alone like how we're all doing cartwheels on life's grass until someone lands in a sinkhole, until one of us decides it's late and the streetlights are telling us it's time to return back home.

For your Monday
Everyone Is Acting as if We're Not Temporary, and I Am Falling Apart in the Privacy of My Own Home
~ Kelli Russell Agodon
I am a body longing for someone to text me, "Hey, babe, I'm kind of into you." I miss you even though I don't visit. /and we butt dial the wrong person.

'Aubade as Fuel' from LOVE PRODIGAL by Traci Brimhall (Copper Canyon Press)

"You know / I always need to save something, to control it."

'Aubade as Fuel' from LOVE PRODIGAL by Traci Brimhall (Copper Canyon Press) @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social

Sheer brilliance 🤍

#poetry #poetrybooks #poetrycollections

Looking forward to it! —I’ve been reading your poems lately and so enjoying them!