Philly Poetry Chapbook Review is pleased to feature Amanda Rabaduex’s poem “It’s okay to say the hurricane has an eye” as our second featured chapbook poem of Issue 4: July/August 2024. You can find more of her poetry in her chapbook, Resin in the Milky Way, available from Cathexis Northwest Press.
It’s okay to say the hurricane has an eye
but if I call tree branches arms
that are reaching out, I’m stuck
in a romantic era. The truth is
I’m looking for a truce—
I’ll take an olive branch,
or the fruit
of a whole orchard.
Wind blows the willow
into a green ocean ready
to help me get carried
away. I’m learning how
to let go of the idea of embrace,
learning to see the trees—
needy, knee deep, needing
to push their most delicate parts
into dirt while all that can be seen
is how they grow towards the sun,
& now I’ve done it again
found splinters of God
everywhere I look
like a storm-shattered oak.
If only my eye were a calm center.
I’m not wrong to say love
when the trees breathe us in
About the Poem
When I first started writing poetry, much of my writing anthropomorphized and exalted nature. Later, during my MFA classes, we discussed how my poems paralleled elements of Romantic era poetry, and I learned that modern readers tend to dislike the sentimentality towards nature which was central to Romantic poems. I gravitate towards pantheistic ideas, so I was saddened by what I perceived as our current society’s need to create a disconnect between humans and nature, as well as a cynicism which trivializes the magic of existence. I carried this sadness with me until it manifested in this poem, which was written during the height of hurricane season in 2022.
Amanda Rabaduex
Author Bio
Amanda Rabaduex is a poet, writer, college lecturer, and managing editor of Etruscan Press. She served in the Air Force and taught yoga prior to earning a BA and an MA in English, an MA in Poetry, and an MFA in Creative Writing. Her chapbook, Resin in the Milky Way, is now available from Cathexis Northwest Press.
Her writing has won contests with Sand Hills Literary Magazine, The American Writers Review, and Causeway Lit. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and a Pushcart Prize, and was named a finalist in Two Sylvias Press Chapbook contest, The Comstock Review Chapbook contest, and The Kari Ann Flickinger Biennial Memorial Literary Prize.
Originally from Ohio, she lives near Knoxville, Tennessee.
From Resin in the Milky Way
Resin in the Milky Way is a poetic journey that explores the intricate landscapes of human emotion – from the intimate moments of connection and disconnection to the grandeur of celestial phenomena, the poems reflect on the human condition in its myriad forms, inviting readers to contemplate their place in the universe, the fleeting nature of existence, and the beauty found in both the ephemeral and the eternal.
Contents
Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/2 from Black Lawrence Press, LSU Press, Persea, Omnidawn, Bloodaxe Books and Central Avenue Publishing.
Check out new poetry chapbooks for June 2024 from Driftwood Press, Sheila-Na-Gig Inc., Diode Editions, Querencia Press, The Poetry Box, Finishing Line Press, Bottlecap Press and an Editor’s Pick from Tupelo Press.
Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/9 from Finishing Line Press, New Directions, Phoneme Media, University of Calgary Press and Curbstone Books.
July ‘24: A Fledgling Journal No More
We’ve completed our first volume, there’s a new featured chapbook poem, and we’re starting to look for a Poetry Editor to expand what we publish. Check out the editor’s note for July 2024.
Chapbook Poem: Whenua by Nicola Andrews
Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for July 2024, “Whenua” from Māori Maid Difficult by Nicola Andrews, along with a few words from the poet.
Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/16 from Finishing Line Press, Soft Skull, Penguin Books, Regal House Publishing and University Of Minnesota Press.
Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/23 from Host Publications, W. W. Norton & Company, Carcanet Press Ltd., LSU Press, Finishing Line Press, The Song Cave and Wake Forest University Press.
Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/30 from Delete Press, Quale Press, Duke University Press, Seagull Books, Sarabande Books, Michigan State University Press and Alternating Current Press.
Southern Literary Tradition: On ‘Snake Lore’ by Jane Morton
In this essay, C.M. Crockford reviews “Snake Lore” by poet Jane Morton, a chapbook published by Black Lawrence Press in February 2024.
Check out new poetry books published the week of 8/6 from NYRB Poets, Belle Point Press, Finishing Line Press, Black Lawrence Press, Wayne State University Press, Milkweed Editions, Penguin Books, Bloodaxe Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Alice James Books, Mercer University Press and two Editor’s Picks from Coffee House Press and Wesleyan University Press.
Chapbook Poem: It’s okay to say the hurricane has an eye by Amanda Rabaduex
Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for August 2024, “It’s okay to say the hurricane has an eye” from Resin in the Milky Way by Amanda Rabadeux, along with a few words from the poet.
Check out new poetry chapbooks for July 2024 from Seven Kitchens Press, Small Harbor Publishing, Belle Point Press, Orison Books, Variant Lit, Querencia Press, The Poetry Box, Bottlecap Press and Finishing Line Press.
Check out new poetry books coming the week of 8/13 from Querencia Press, Alice James Books, Finishing Line Press, University of New Mexico Press, Harbour Publishing, Knopf, Amistad, TriQuarterly and Red Hen Press.
Check out new poetry books coming the week of 8/20 from Querencia Press, Finishing Line Press, McClelland & Stewart, Zephyr Press, Tin House Books, W. W. Norton & Company, Red Hen Press, Graywolf Press, Wesleyan University Press and an Editor’s Pick from Copper Canyon Press.
Check out new poetry books for the week of 8/27 from Carcanet Press Ltd., Beltway Editions, Finishing Line Press,, LSU Press, Milkweed Editions, Tupelo Press, Guernica Editions, University of Nebraska Press and Texas Review Press.
Resistance and Resignation in Will Russo’s Glass Manifesto
“Glass Manifesto is a meditative collection of poems that call to resist the powers that move the world at times, or resign and offer oneself up to them at others.” Review by PCR contributor, Drishya.
Meet our contributor, Drishya, a writer and artist based in Kolkata, India, publishing under a single name to protest India’s caste system. Read about his writing life and other work.