Aldo Amparán

It's official: Shō Poetry Journal now nominates work for Best of the Net! We are pleased to share our nominees for the 2026 anthology.

Read these selected poems online at: shopoetryjournal.com/category/read/

These poems appear in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025) alongside work by 41 other fantastic poets.

Aldo Amparán - "Genealogy" This is one of seven lies: I grew to love

One dull midnight
in August, absence

boiled my skin to purple seeds: fevers
high enough to stretch the horizon on my face.

My grandmother pressed the cold
eggshell against my skin.

@skygoneout.bsky.social, "Genealogy"

www.brinkerhoffpoetr...

Light beige background. Sliver of a dark night image at the top, a ghostly night forest scene: a girl in a long white dress and a bird head mask sits on a bough. Beige text reads: Read a Poem Summer 2025. Main text reads: "from 'Symptoms of Ghosts' I used to write / my colors in past // tense: I was redded. / I was blued. I was / violented. Often // misspelled / certain truths. – Aldo Amparán, Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up." Small circle-cut photo of a person with short, reddish-brown hair & a neatly trimmed goatee wears a black beret & a black sweater, standing among leafless branches.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon an article in LGBTQ Nation titled “85% of gay people are possessed by ghosts according to ‘spiritual research.’” As a queer person & avid consumer of all things strange & spooky, I was amused by the claim, but it lingered with me in a more introspective way. It reminded me of all the damaging refrains used to explain someone’s queerness, & how some of them were true for me: experiencing childhood trauma, growing up without a father. READ MORE: tinyurl.com/symptomsofghosts

New poem online! “Symptoms of Ghosts” by Aldo Amparán (@skygoneout.bsky.social) is forthcoming in our summer issue, Shō No. 7, and was selected by the editors as the runner-up for the Shō Poetry Prize.

Read the poem (with audio by the poet) here: shopoetryjournal.com/aldo-amparan/

A person with short, reddish-brown hair & a neatly trimmed goatee wears a black beret & a black sweater, standing among leafless branches. Text reads: Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up • Aldo Amparán “Symptoms of Ghosts”

Congratulations to Aldo Amparán, runner-up of the Shō Poetry Prize for their poem “Symptoms of Ghosts,” forthcoming in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025)! Preorder your copy here: tinyurl.com/shono7

Aldo Amparán (@skygoneout.bsky.social) is the author of Brother Sleep, winner of the Alice James Award …

Winter update: 31 poets, 75 poems Discover 75 poems freshly added to our site in our winter poetry update.

Our winter poetry update is here!

Discover poems by great contemporary poets like @skygoneout.bsky.social, @janeclarke.bsky.social, @imtiazdharker.bsky.social, Seán Hewitt, @donikakelly.bsky.social, Craig Santos Perez, Padraig Regan & more, plus voices from the past.

www.brinkerhoffpoetr...

New poem out in @haydensferryreview.bsky.social! Trigger Warning: surviving child SA

The Year By Chen Chen December 27, 2024 [abstract image from Flickr] In January I wonder if Father Time ever likes being called Daddy. In February I injure my left foot. In March I chortle. On March 31st I realize there are 31 days in March. In April I eat healthy while watching too much TV. In May I make a decision about snail figurines (more, please). In June I flail but do not fail completely. Later in June I wonder what it feels like to be the second “a” in Aaron. During the summer solstice I lie face down butt naked in bed with the standing fan pointed at my behind.

closing out the year with a poem called “The Year”! i think it’s my favorite poem i wrote in 2024.

& i’m delighted that Aldo Amparán (@skygoneout.bsky.social) chose it for Zócalo Public Square—i hope you’ll give it a read. here’s the beginning. for the rest: www.zocalopublicsquare.org/chen-chen/

The Year by Chen Chen | Poetry Chen Chen is the author of two poetry books, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency and When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, both published by BOA Editions. He liv...

Honored to share the final poem I selected for Zócalo Public Square, written by the brilliant Chen Chen (@chenchenwrites.bsky.social). I’m grateful for the opportunity to spotlight such incredible voices!

Don’t miss this stunning piece:
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/chen-chen/

A Garden Creates the Need for a Gardener by Alfredo Aguilar | Poetry The ringing inside the body of a pianoLong after my fingers have lifted from the keys A groove of tire tracks on a white road of snow     I

Thrilled to share a beautiful new poem by Alfredo Aguilar featured on Zócalo Public Square!

Take a moment to read it here: www.zocalopublicsquare.org/alfredo-agui...

trichotillomania by Ae Hee Lee | Poetry a needling sun a thin silver jail bird thrashing inside my head strayed from a starry follicle a ray an insoluble thing and tomorrow tomorrow will come tomorrow and what to do? i resort to hair pullin...

This weekend, I'm excited to share this breathtaking poem by Ae Hee Lee (@aeheelee.bsky.social), which I had the honor of curating for Zócalo Public Square. Much gratitude, Ae Hee, for trusting me with your work!

www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ae-hee-lee/

Graceless and Gaslit by Dustin Pearson | Poetry I had an argument with my friend a while ago. Last night, I let my hand into a grater. I watched the skin peel from my fingers and from the bones like the

A new poem in Zócalo Public Square this morning. An honor, too, that this poem is one curated by Aldo Amparán for the month of December.
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/dustin-pears...

Graceless and Gaslit by Dustin Pearson | Poetry I had an argument with my friend a while ago. Last night, I let my hand into a grater. I watched the skin peel from my fingers and from the bones like the

Thrilled to share the stunning poem I curated for Zócalo Public Square, written by the incredible @dustinkpearson.bsky.social. Immense gratitude to Connie Voisine for the opportunity to highlight such inspirational voices, & to Dustin for trusting me with his work!

Honored to have my poem “Michigan” from Consider the Rooster featured today at Poetry Daily.

This book means so much to me, and I’m so grateful to everyone who’s supported it and made space for its words. 💖 If you haven’t yet, grab a copy of Consider the Rooster—available now from Nightboat Books.

#Poetry Emily Dickinson

5 more of my favorite #poetsonbluesky

@martinespadapoet.bsky.social
@emanuelxavier.bsky.social
@skygoneout.bsky.social
@cphillipspoet.bsky.social
@margaretatwood.bsky.social

Three acceptances in a row! 🥹

If I can break a line where it surprises the reader on the next line or invites a double meaning, that’s where I tend to break.

I always think of this example:

"I was in the hospital dying
for ice cream."

Thrilled to announce that my second book is forthcoming from
Alice James Books in September 2026! Preorder now: www.alicejamesbooks.org/bookstore/th...