Day #6: Palette Poetry

Celebrating National Poetry Month by highlighting 30 days of literary journals that publish poetry you can read in 5 minutes or less.

This recommendation is for my Laura, my friend who approaches every moment of life with the openness of a wild spring bouquet. Laura is the kind of person who stays curious about the back stories of people she meets. She’s one of the best listeners I know, the friend who always lifts you up.

Similarly, from the Palette Poetry Mission Statement:

Palette Poetry endeavors to uplift and engage emerging and established poets in our larger community.

The world is eager for poets. In 2016, more people spent their hard earned money on poetry books than any other year on record. When times are dark, the world always turns to poets for empathy, for answers, for words, bucking and new.

Palette Poetry is here to paint our small part of the world with truth through poetry, as hopeful and eviscerating as truth can be.”

Palette Poetry is one of the most intentional journals I know about being “an inclusive and safe and encouraging space for all voices, especially those that often go unheard or unrecognized.”

What do I mean by being intentional?

Palette keeps a reserved portal for traditionally under-represented poets to submit work and receive a response more quickly than the general submission category with this explanation:  “We at Palette Poetry hope to use our platform to actively begin demolishing the discriminatory systems that pervade the publishing industry.  To that end, we welcome Black writers, Indigenous writers, and writers of color (BIPOC) to submit through this category for a quick decision made directly by the editors. We’ll do our best to return a decision on your poetry within 2-4 weeks.”

One of my favorite recent poems is “I Want to be Alive for a Reason” by Summer Farah. 

Here’s a sneak peek of the beginning.

i want to sing & remember wind i think of my training of breath control               the power of looking of feeling song against my teeth                instinct lost i press my hand to diaphragm & nothing balloons underneath you used to be so strong my mother says you used to be so strong before before before 

By Summer Farah

After you scroll through Palette Poetry, let me know your new favorite poem.

Until then, stay colorful. Read more poetry. This month and always.