Day #26: Literary Hub

Celebrating National Poetry Month by highlighting 30 days of literary publishers who produce poetry you can listen to, watch, or read, in 5 minutes or less.

I’ve been married to J almost 46 years. It’s not original to say that marriage is a dance and on our best days we can feel like this sculpture, bending toward each other, playfully keeping our heads above water, taunting the fates at ocean’s edge. I know this with certainty. J will always try to understand what the people he loves are interested in.

Whether it’s enthusiastically applauding an elementary school performance of Willy Wonka, or trying to figure out what makes one book considered to be great literature and another a simple “beach read,” he analyzes facts to grasp knowledge.

My poetry Cupid skills might not be quite as good as my personal love life matchmaking turned out to be, but when it came time to select a journal with poetry for J, Literary Hub seemed like a guaranteed right fit.

From the “About” page:

Literary Hub is an organizing principle in the service of literary culture, a single, trusted, daily source for all the news, ideas and richness of contemporary literary life. There is more great literary content online than ever before, but it is scattered, easily lost—with the help of its editorial partners, Lit Hub is a site readers can rely on for smart, engaged, entertaining writing about all things books. Each day—alongside original content and exclusive excerpts—Literary Hub is proud to showcase an editorial feature from one of its many partners from across the literary spectrum: publishers big and small, journals, bookstores, and non-profits.

On Literary Hub you can find History, Science, Politics, Biography, Food, Technology, Travel, Music, Podcast, Craft and Criticism essays, Fiction, and yes, of course, Poetry.

For J to read, I selected “Late Winter Walk” by Julia Alvarez, an ode to “the happiness we feel.”

Here’s the opening:

LATE WINTER WALK

High above this snowy field
we spot a shadow hovering.
When I turn to you and ask,
What is it: a vulture or a hawk?
your hand drops mine
to shade your narrowed eyes
from the brilliant winter light.

Please read the entire “Late Winter Walk” by Julia Alvarez on Literary Hub.

Remember today to walk through the world in awe of birds, and always in kindness to one another.