Tessera

Christina Daub

@christinadaub.bsky.social

Poet Co-editor of the forthcoming poetry anthology, Turning Poetry into Food: A Collection of Poetry X Hunger poems Co-founded The Plum Review Taught poetry at George Washington U. Translates poetry from Spanish & German

342 Posts739 Follower 507 Folgt

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5d ago

“yes, yes” #poetry by Elise M Powers

ONLY POEMS@onlypoemsmag.bsky.social · last wk.

Yet, even when we don't ask for it, even when we insist against it, joy always finds us again.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5d ago

“Searching to earth the light…” by John O’Donohue #poetry #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social

ELEMENTAL

Is the word the work
Of someone who tills the blue field,
Unearths its dark plenitude
For the tight seed to release its thought
Into the ferment of clay,
Searching to earth the light
And come to voice in a word of grain
That can sing free in the breeze,
Bathe in the yellow well of the sun,
Avoid the attack of the bird,
And endure the red cell of the oven
Until memory leavens in the gift of bread?

by John O’Donohue
from his collection: Conamara Blues

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 3w ago

The Past by Stephen Dunn from The Insistence of Beauty for #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social #poetry

The Past

Herrings begin to glow just after they die, never while alive. When I read this
I wanted to sit for a long time in the dark.
Nothing in nature is a metaphor.
Everything is. I thought both thoughts.
And knew inexactly why I felt sad.
Herrings dead and aglow—
I should have been properly amazed,
the way anyone looking at a star would be, realizing it was years away, untouchable.
Yet there it is, shining.

by Stephen Dunn
from The Insistence of Beauty
W.W. Norton, 2004

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4w ago

The Red Wheelbarrow so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens ~William Carlos Williams #poetry #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · last mo.

Always, Deborah. #poetry

Tom Snarsky@tomsnarsky.bsky.social · last mo.

where light drinks the world, Deborah Digges

GREETER OF SOULS
Ponds are spring-fed, lakes run off rivers.
Here souls pass, not one deified, and sometimes this is terrible to know
three floors below the street, where light drinks the world, siphoned like music through portals.
How fed, that dark, the octaves framed faceless.
A memory of water.
The trees more beautiful not themselves.
Souls who have passed here, tired, brightening.
Dumpsters of linen, empty
gurneys along corridors to parking garages.
Who wonders, is it morning?
Who washes these blankets?
Can I not be the greeter of souls?
What's to be done with the envelopes of hair?
If the inlets are frozen, can I walk across?
When I look down into myself to see a scattering of birds, do I put on the new garments?
On which side of the river should I wait?

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · last mo.

Beautiful, @susanlleary.bsky.social #poetry

Veronika Fuchs@veronikafuchs.bsky.social · last mo.

from Susan L. Leary's @susanlleary.bsky.social beautiful, beautiful collection More Flowers ❤️

Text:

The 89th Constellation

It is rumored that when we speak,
we speak the language of God—

a strange divinity of twig & berry
loosed from the citadels of our tongues ...

their bodies now *birds*,
constellated in the firmament.

Oh, how we animate inside the translucence
of every eye.

We must be lovely indeed.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · last mo.

Humbled & grateful to have read last night at one of America’s oldest free libraries, the Enoch Pratt Free Library hosted by the editor, Emily Holland of the oldest continuously published poetry-only journal in America, Poet Lore with finalists: Nnenna Aduaka, Christina Burgoyn & Carol Buell.

Answering a lot of questions! L to R: poets Emily Holland, Nnenna Aduaka, Christina Borgoyn, Carol Buell, & Christina Daub

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · last mo.

Honored to be reading my poem which won the 2026 at Enoch Pratt Library Prize, judged by Poet Lore Tuesday July 14, 6:30 PM. This will also be live streamed on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIIh... #poetry #Baltimore

Partial image of the Table of Contents in the current issue of Poet Lore featuring the title of my poem, “At Calvert Cliffs.”

Poster for the Enoch Pratt Poetry Prize reading on July 14 at 6:30 PM at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Avenue in Baltimore.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Capital Love fest ruled today @thewriterscenter.bsky.social Here’s a poem by Jason Gebhardt from @wwph.bsky.social #poetry for #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social

DESCRIPTION OF A LOVE SONNET

Of all the love sonnets I've written
the whole Arabian Nights of them
the one thousand and second is unspeakable having finally captured the shimmering blue
of the peacock's feathers the true tenderness of an infant's grip my heart's entire holdings
so perfect it has no use for end rhyme
or pentameter l'd be summarily executed merely for reciting it but that's O.K.
when I listen close on the quietest nights silence
broken by a car's passing the branch scrape against the window breath these shadow lines that you are permitted to hear will suffice
to say have loved all that could be

by Jason Gebhardt from the anthology, Capital Love, WWPH, 2026

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Hunger Leadership Awards from the Congressional Hunger Center went to Chef Carla Hall, along with awardees Nancy Dalton, Tanner Roark, Chris Bernard & Alexis Bylander. Reps Bonamici and Fitzpatrick were also honored. Exciting to see all the interns fighting to end #hunger @poetryxhunger.bsky.social

Panel of hunger leadership awardees: Alexis Bylander, Chris Bernard, Tanner Roark and Nancy Dalton.

Some of the many Interns working to end hunger at last night’s Congressional Hunger Center’s leadership awards ceremony.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🩷@wwph.bsky.social🩷 Check it out!

BIG celebration of the new anthology titled CAPITAL LOVE at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland this Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

…it wears me… “Picture of a Soul” by Elizabeth Spires #poetry ~from her book “A Memory of the Future.”

Picture of a Soul

A shirt I was born in.
I wear it. Or it wears me.
White, of course.

A loose fit.
Growing as I grow
but slowly going dull.

It must be washed once,
twice, three times,
then hung to dry.

There, can you see it?
Hanging high
on the hill.

Waving its arms
in the wind. Beckoning.
Sun shining through.

by Elizabeth Spires

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#nonprofit #poetry #creativewriting

Literary Arts Fund@literaryartsfund.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Applications are open for the Literary Arts Fund’s 2026 innovation project grants. Grants will range from $25K to $100K and provide funding to literary arts nonprofits for new, one-time, and forward-thinking projects that would strengthen literary arts nonprofits’ ability to serve creative writers.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Thrilled to have a poem in this collection of “those who give power to Love!” Stay tuned for the readings and related events happening this summer.

Washington Writers’ Publishing House@wwph.bsky.social · 3mo ago

bookshop.org/shop/washing... Now available!! (*And don't miss our Capital Love LitFest on June 28th @thewriterscenter.bsky.social) #writingcommunity #writers #readers #bskybookclub #literaryfiction ✍️📚

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Another Wendell Berry gem. #poetry #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

“A debut of startling promise, specific pleasure, and honest love.” #poetry of @jaiofearth.bsky.social Review by @stevenleyva.bsky.social

Washington Independent Review of Books@wirobooks.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New collections to make life more lyrical. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @stevenleyva.bsky.social @ohiostatepress.bsky.social @jaiofearth.bsky.social #booksky

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Gratitude! I won the Enoch Pratt Poetry Prize! My poem was chosen by the editor of Poet Lore and will be in their Winter/Spring issue. #poetry #poetrycommunity Thanks for the nudge to submit, @kelliagodon.bsky.social

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

For every bullet, a redwood. by Kelly Grace Thomas #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social #poetry

Soft Discipline

Most days, I'm dumbstruck
by what humanity is capable of:
every miracle and massacre.
For every bullet, a redwood.
For every salted grief, a new joy
is born. It is a soft discipline,
trying to love this world—
even when it breaks your heart.
Even when it breaks.

~Kelly Grace Thomas

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Say goodnight to every part of my anatomy from “Insomnia” by @greggsha.bsky.social from his book Speaking in Italics, Souvenir Street Books, 2026 @danvera.com #smallpoemsunday #poetry @tomsnarsky.bsky.social

Insomnia

In bed, at night, on crisp, patterned sheets,
I dream of sleep. Eyes wide open, body tense as a wire. I count and recount all the sheep
in the yard. Say goodnight to every part
of my anatomy that I can name. I recall
the events of the day, swallow them as if
they were some kind of narcotic, sleeping

potion. Snippets of conversation play over
in my head; edited, polished, grammatically correct. But the words are no lullaby, only manage to keep sleep at bay. As a last-ditch effort, I try to fool sleep. Eyeballs rolled
up, rapidly moving behind eyelids that
snap open like window shades.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

“mostly rejoicing” Messenger by Mary Oliver #poetry

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Wonderful! Many thanks to @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social editors @domkeykong.bsky.social & @johnnycordova.bsky.social Great to meet you both at AWP! #poetry

Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP)@clmporg.bsky.social · 5mo ago

@shopoetryjournal.bsky.social’s playlist for #WomensHistoryMonth features audio recordings and contextual notes from fourteen poets published in Shō Poetry Journal, including Whitney Koo, Alison Pelegrin, Meg Reynolds, and Jessica Q. Stark! shopoetryjournal.com/womens-histo...

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Toward a future garden… #poetry by Tina Chang

Spring by Tina Chang

I said I was the vessel.

I said it to the sun.

I mentioned it to the snow

which made an appearance

last night, heavy and sorrowful

but fleeting. It stayed

long enough for me to dream

about it, long enough

for my footprint to leave

a legacy in frost as I walked

toward a future garden.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5mo ago

With poets Nancy Naomi Carlson and Mojdeh Bahar after Mojdeh's extraordinary reading of her lyrical translations of Jila Mossaed's The Dusk of Exile: Poems of Longing and Light.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This will be a great reading especially because Burgi will be reading from her new collection, White Door from Carbonation press.

Burgi Zenhaeusern@burgi.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Save the date: #DupontUnderground 's next Read the Room event, featuring Sierra Fisher, Pamela Chomba, Nestor Torres & a thrilled me: 4/8, 6:30pm, 19 Dupont Circle, NW, Washington, D.C. Tickets & info: dupontunderground.org/read-the-room

event poster with cutouts of headshots of four readers, arranged bouquet-like. Three women (presenting), one man (presenting), all smiling, of varied racial origins. The poster says: Laugh, cry (maybe don't scream) but definitely come thru. Read the Room, a poetry series, come out April 8!!, tickets $20. The poster has a red and black background.

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5mo ago

“Did you know nothing dies?” from @kelliagodon.bsky.social beautiful new book, Accidental Devotions #poetry @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social

Everything Is Equal When You're Distorted by the Afterlife

When M told a poet, You are young and nothing is sacred,
we watched the smallest bloom on our seaside roses wilt./

It was a certain evening where nothing was happening.
It was a certain evening where strangers were building/

wildflower museums. We are old and everything is/sacred —the fireweed is thigh high and a friend is/

dying. Or the sunflowers are. All things echo with loss.
Everything is equal when you're devoted

to the afterlife. Did you know that nothing dies? is what/ my nephew told me, holding a dead moth he found

on a shelf in his room. He is young and everything is/ sacred. When he sees one of his chickens

has been killed by a weasel, he doesn't tell his mom because he hates to see the glitter of pain in her eyes.

There's a sweetness in the dying sunflowers. Promise/ me you won't tell my mom about the moth, it's part of her

name. When I ask him what he means he says, Mother.
She is more than powdered wings—a woman and son/

walking into the garden, her trust of blossoms, their/ dislike of fences, how everything in his eyes still blooms.

by Kelli Russell Agodon
From her book, Accidental Devotions, Copper Canyon Press, 2026.

This poem is written in couplets, but it was impossible to re-create exactly the line breaks due to the formatting here. I was not also able to indent to show a carryover line. Apologies.

MomsRising @momsrising.org · 5mo ago

We hear about SNAP cuts and food affordability, how rollbacks are hurting families and state budgets, and simple steps you can take to push Congress to restore benefits w/ @fracposts.bsky.social. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_HL1eyAcwI

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Always happy to support @poetryxhunger and @feedthechildrenorg.bsky.social The power of poetry and how it raises both awareness and money to #endhunger fills me with gratitude every time. Thanks to all the poets who gave their poems and opened their wallets to fight #hunger.

Poetry X Hunger@poetryxhunger.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Thanks to the Eastern Shore Writers Association for welcoming Poetry X Hunger to their Bay to Ocean Writers Conference. Tina Daub and Larew (pictured at the Poetry X Hunger display table) met lots of fine writers, re-connected with friends ... and raised 200 dollars for Feed the Children. Yes!

Poetry X Hunger @poetryxhunger.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 5mo ago

One of Emily Dickinson’s envelope poems #poetry from Christine Burgin/New Directions

Had
we
senses tho'
But
perhaps
well they're at
Home
So
intimate
Madness
He's
liable
Thats'
'Tis
Had within
oUr
'tis not
with
with them
the eyes
our
Head -s -
prudent
How
well
we
are
We
could
upon
Earth
that
Blind - not the
World
§ So
Utterly
Unmoved

Michael Bazzett @mikhailbazharov.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Beyond grateful to APR for publishing this poem... Writing poems while your city –– and home ––is being terrorized by thugs with guns might seem odd. Or even absurd. But, as Szymborska famously said, “I prefer the absurdity of writing poems / to the absurdity of not writing poems.”