Psaltery & Lyre

If this was all we had, it would be enough by J.I. Kleinberg

"Three windows face into the garden, sills crowded / with stones"

"If this was all we had, it would be enough" by J.I. Kleinberg

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/03/02/i...

Your LA Death by MT Vallarta                                                 CW: Suicide I …

"I am having dreams of Los Angeles."

"Your LA Death" by MT Vallarta @itsmelktea.bsky.social

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/02/23/y...

Vague as Moths by Katie Johntz Adrift in that airylobby, rubber plants archingoverhead, I remember the soundof the news of the first illness, the firstcorrupted cells breakingoff on their own to take hold in the …

"Adrift in that airy / lobby, rubber plants arching / overhead..."

"Vague as Moths" by Katie Johntz.

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/02/16/v...

you imbibed everything, then nothing from me

Adding that lately when I'm hungry for new voices, I read:

@havehashad.com
@okaydonkeymag.com
@oneart.bsky.social
@psalteryandlyre.bsky.social
@rattlepoetry.bsky.social

The Day Before I Died by Bob King I took a nap. It seemed almost wasteful,given the magnitude of the next day,but tired wrapped around me like smoke,pulling me toward the sofa that alreadyhad the perfect imprint of my b…

“I took a nap. It seemed almost wasteful, / given the magnitude of the next day, / but tired wrapped around me like smoke”

"The Day Before I Died" by @kingrobertj.bsky.social

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/02/09/t...

Missionaries Show Me and My Mother How to Pray by Chloe Xu         And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast; and its kingdom was filled with darkness;        and they gnawed their tongues for pain.                   …

"I started by pushing my breastbone past my lungs unlodging"

"Missionaries Show Me and My Mother How to Pray" by Chloe Xu

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/02/02/m...

my heart curls inward / like a leaf before frost

The Shadow I Keep by Sam Aureli

I don’t forgive him, not yet, / but I let their love for him stand, / a stone I don’t need to carry."

"The Shadow I Keep" by @samaureli.bsky.social‬

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/01/26/t...

Thank you for reading, dear Dana <3

The Shadow I Keep by Sam Aureli

Every Monday @psalteryandlyre.bsky.social publishes an excellent poem. Every single Monday. I needed this one today.

A poem from my forthcoming chapbook, Pelican's Daughter (Concrete Wolf Press) is up on the Psaltery & Lyre site today. Many thanks, @psalteryandlyre.bsky.social and @millietullis.bsky.social!

Book Review: “Purgatoireby” Liz Prato Review by Rebecca Beardsall

“I expected Prato would bring that same precision and authentic voice to her fiction, but what I didn’t expect was how deeply her novel-in-stories would resonate with my own obsessions about lineage, memory, and the spiral of time.”

Rebecca Beardsall reviews Purgatoire by Liz Prato

Search On: Dying Across the Border by Sarah Stockton

"Search: end of life / Search: extraordinary measures / Search: airplane flights"

"Search On: Dying Across the Border" by @sarahstockton.bsky.social

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/01/19/s...

My mother dreams of whiteness by Jael Montellano

"European men, who loved me for my curves, my / ice-water eyes."

"My mother dreams of whiteness" by @gathcreator.bsky.social

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/01/12/m...

in contempt / of physics, undousable fires / and nonflammable men

Thank you @alinaetc.bsky.social for the inspo! Thank you @psalteryandlyre.bsky.social for giving it a place to live.

Balance by Elaje López

"It was Baba. He walked in and sat on the edge of my bed, holding out a bowl to me. I looked down. Peeled cucumbers with salt. Cut watermelon. A bunch of grapes."

"Balance" by Elaje López

psalteryandlyre.org/2026/01/05/b...

Writing Poems in the Synagogue Bathroom by Maya Bernstein

“as I spill ink on the Day of Rest...”

"Writing Poems in the Synagogue Bathroom" by Maya Bernstein

psalteryandlyre.org/2025/12/29/w...

Thank you 💛

Much gratitude to Millie Tullis and the folks who make @psalteryandlyre.bsky.social for making space for this poem, which is as close to my heart as they come.

Another exquisite poem by Jane Zwart!
#poetry

"a Christmas cactus that outlived
her mother is blooming
out of season—the anniversary
of my grandma’s death

now all the liturgy it knows."

Beautiful new & seasonally on-point @janezwart.bsky.social poem. Gonna go check on my Christmas cactus and call my mom 💕

In the Lion’s Mouth by Jane Zwart

"In my mother’s theory of miracles / there are two columns..."

"In the Lion's Mouth" by @janezwart.bsky.social

psalteryandlyre.org/2025/12/22/i...

Call Us Not Weeds by Ulrica Hume

Call Us Not Weeds (short story about feminism) @psalteryandlyre.bsky.social
psalteryandlyre.org/2025/10/13/c...

Millions of thanks to the fine editors who published my work in 2025! Thank you
@doesithavepockets.bsky.social
The Penn Review
The Broken Teacup
@psalteryandlyre.bsky.social
@theargylelitmag.bsky.social
@ekphrasticreview.bsky.social
@templeinacity.bsky.social

Steve is burning by Renee Emerson

"Day and night, / in every room / Steve is burning" "Steve is Burning" by Renee Emerson

psalteryandlyre.org/2025/12/15/s...

For a more accessible version: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781949039689

For a more accessible version: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781949039689

I know a lot of worthwhile work doesn't gets its due.
And I know a lot of good things are less a matter of deserving than grace.
That makes this mean more to me.
Grateful to the reviewer, to Orison Books, and to any of y'all who decide to preorder: www.orisonbooks.com/product-page...

Burying by Sandra Fees

"In the yard's far corner, / a cemetery is forming."

"Burying" by Sandra Fees

psalteryandlyre.org/2025/12/08/b...

I love this essay—and yes, there’s milkweed in Illinois, but not as much as when I was a child due to herbicides, alas.