HALSEY Literary Reader
@halseyreader.bsky.social
A semi-regular collection of words and pictures, HALSEY focuses on the art and science of living and what it means to be human: 30 poems, 10 photos, and 2 essays in every issue https://www.rockwoodpress.com/halsey
Small presses and indie chapbooks are shaping the poetry landscape—who’s a recent discovery you wish more people knew? Tag them or link their work!
February 11, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Small presses and indie chapbooks are shaping the poetry landscape—who’s a recent discovery you wish more people knew? Tag them or link their work!
From "The Thousand Fires" by Carol Bialock
Who did the deed?
Who was the heroine?
It doesn’t matter.
One saves her country;
the other, a scrap of paper.
One is a martyr;
the other dies in bed.
Who did the deed?
Who was the heroine?
It doesn’t matter.
One saves her country;
the other, a scrap of paper.
One is a martyr;
the other dies in bed.
February 11, 2026 at 8:02 PM
From "The Thousand Fires" by Carol Bialock
Who did the deed?
Who was the heroine?
It doesn’t matter.
One saves her country;
the other, a scrap of paper.
One is a martyr;
the other dies in bed.
Who did the deed?
Who was the heroine?
It doesn’t matter.
One saves her country;
the other, a scrap of paper.
One is a martyr;
the other dies in bed.
What is your life motto, or what words do you live by? #writers #writingprompt
February 11, 2026 at 6:45 PM
What is your life motto, or what words do you live by? #writers #writingprompt
Matthew J. Andrews is a private investigator and writer. He is the author of The Hours and I Close My Eyes and I Almost Remember, and his work has been widely published in literary journals. Originally from California, he now lives in Central Iowa with his wife and two children.
February 11, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Matthew J. Andrews is a private investigator and writer. He is the author of The Hours and I Close My Eyes and I Almost Remember, and his work has been widely published in literary journals. Originally from California, he now lives in Central Iowa with his wife and two children.
Based on the life and songs of Bob Dylan, A Razor’s Edge takes readers on a surreal yet emotional journey alongside the famed songwriter: to drink at a roadside bar in rural Minnesota, to speak with God on the top of Mt. Sinai, and to rekindle a failing relationship over a cup of coffee.
A Razor's Edge: Poems by Matthew J. Andrews — Rockwood Press
Based on the life and songs of Bob Dylan, A Razor’s Edge takes readers on a surreal yet emotional journey alongside the famed songwriter: to drink at a roadside bar in rural Minnesota, to speak with…
www.rockwoodpress.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Based on the life and songs of Bob Dylan, A Razor’s Edge takes readers on a surreal yet emotional journey alongside the famed songwriter: to drink at a roadside bar in rural Minnesota, to speak with God on the top of Mt. Sinai, and to rekindle a failing relationship over a cup of coffee.
This number needs to be zero
One of every thousand American residents has been taken into custody by ICE in the last year.
A stunning detail the ICE chief shared in this hearing that was supposed to be a brag, except it isn't: ICE has arrested 379,000 people between Jan. 2025-Jan. 2026 -- but only 8,700 were suspected gang members or known suspected terrorists.
That's 2%! www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
That's 2%! www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
February 11, 2026 at 1:57 PM
This number needs to be zero
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
I have #poetry featured on @4zzzradio.bsky.social's TRANZMISSION next week! Thank you @enbylife.bsky.social for making this possible:)
February 10, 2026 at 11:19 PM
I have #poetry featured on @4zzzradio.bsky.social's TRANZMISSION next week! Thank you @enbylife.bsky.social for making this possible:)
Wouldn’t it be great if…. What can I do today to make that more likely? #writers #writingprompt
February 10, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Wouldn’t it be great if…. What can I do today to make that more likely? #writers #writingprompt
Bob Dylan stands at the door. His leathered hand is on the knob, but he can’t bring himself to turn it. What’s the point?
A Razor's Edge: Poems by Matthew J. Andrews — Rockwood Press
Based on the life and songs of Bob Dylan, A Razor’s Edge takes readers on a surreal yet emotional journey alongside the famed songwriter: to drink at a roadside bar in rural Minnesota, to speak with…
www.rockwoodpress.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Bob Dylan stands at the door. His leathered hand is on the knob, but he can’t bring himself to turn it. What’s the point?
In conversation with Bob Dylan and his profound folk music, these mesmerizing and vivid prose poems shine. Via humor, surrealism, and unique storytelling, readers go on memorable adventures with Dylan in otherwise mundane yet charming scenarios and settings.
A Razor's Edge: Poems by Matthew J. Andrews — Rockwood Press
Based on the life and songs of Bob Dylan, A Razor’s Edge takes readers on a surreal yet emotional journey alongside the famed songwriter: to drink at a roadside bar in rural Minnesota, to speak with…
www.rockwoodpress.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:15 PM
In conversation with Bob Dylan and his profound folk music, these mesmerizing and vivid prose poems shine. Via humor, surrealism, and unique storytelling, readers go on memorable adventures with Dylan in otherwise mundane yet charming scenarios and settings.
The Oracle
How will the world end?
I ask her. Will we all blow
up in a nuke’s blast?
No, no, she replies.
It will be slow. Some will burn.
Some drown. Most will starve.
Charles K. Carter, Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood, 2026)
How will the world end?
I ask her. Will we all blow
up in a nuke’s blast?
No, no, she replies.
It will be slow. Some will burn.
Some drown. Most will starve.
Charles K. Carter, Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood, 2026)
February 9, 2026 at 10:32 PM
The Oracle
How will the world end?
I ask her. Will we all blow
up in a nuke’s blast?
No, no, she replies.
It will be slow. Some will burn.
Some drown. Most will starve.
Charles K. Carter, Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood, 2026)
How will the world end?
I ask her. Will we all blow
up in a nuke’s blast?
No, no, she replies.
It will be slow. Some will burn.
Some drown. Most will starve.
Charles K. Carter, Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood, 2026)
From "A Declaration" by Elisabeth Murawski
I am no chip of broken pottery.
I am no blue and white petroglyph
on a canyon wall.
I am no eye of turquoise.
I am no lavender door, no lavender
window jamb.
I am no kachina with hair
the color of dried blood.
I am no comb with teeth full of sand.
I am no chip of broken pottery.
I am no blue and white petroglyph
on a canyon wall.
I am no eye of turquoise.
I am no lavender door, no lavender
window jamb.
I am no kachina with hair
the color of dried blood.
I am no comb with teeth full of sand.
February 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
From "A Declaration" by Elisabeth Murawski
I am no chip of broken pottery.
I am no blue and white petroglyph
on a canyon wall.
I am no eye of turquoise.
I am no lavender door, no lavender
window jamb.
I am no kachina with hair
the color of dried blood.
I am no comb with teeth full of sand.
I am no chip of broken pottery.
I am no blue and white petroglyph
on a canyon wall.
I am no eye of turquoise.
I am no lavender door, no lavender
window jamb.
I am no kachina with hair
the color of dried blood.
I am no comb with teeth full of sand.
A discussion between two authors on their writing processes, identities and personal experiences. The conversation delves into the complexities of love, trauma, and survival in the face of conflict and displacement. thepalfestpodcast.podbean.com/e/hala-alyan...
Hala Alyan and Mai Serhan on Memoirs of Home | The PalFest Podcast
In our first episode of 2026, The PalFest Podcast brings you a discussion between two authors on their writing processes, identities and personal experiences. The conversation delves into the…
thepalfestpodcast.podbean.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:00 PM
A discussion between two authors on their writing processes, identities and personal experiences. The conversation delves into the complexities of love, trauma, and survival in the face of conflict and displacement. thepalfestpodcast.podbean.com/e/hala-alyan...
What is a word or a phrase that I want to focus on today? #writers #writingprompt
February 9, 2026 at 6:45 PM
What is a word or a phrase that I want to focus on today? #writers #writingprompt
Nicholas Skaldetvind’s In the Way of Things invites us on a coastal, irresistibly watery journey that spans from Italy to Greece to California and elsewhere.
In the Way of Things: Poems by Nicholas Skaldetvind — Rockwood Press
Nicholas Skaldetvind’s In the Way of Things invites us on a coastal, irresistibly watery journey that spans from Italy to Greece to California and elsewhere. This poet’s deep connection with the…
www.rockwoodpress.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Nicholas Skaldetvind’s In the Way of Things invites us on a coastal, irresistibly watery journey that spans from Italy to Greece to California and elsewhere.
Big Ivy poet Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation Dillingham from the community of Dillingham in the Big Ivy section of western North Carolina. Her poetry collection Home was nominated for a SIBA.
On Music: Collected Poems by Nancy Dillingham — Rockwood Press
Nancy Dillingham plucks our heartstrings as she writes movingly about some of the musicians we easily recognize and some that may be more obscure. Her poems strike all the right chords and are as…
www.rockwoodpress.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Big Ivy poet Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation Dillingham from the community of Dillingham in the Big Ivy section of western North Carolina. Her poetry collection Home was nominated for a SIBA.
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
I don’t actually worry if we’ll beat fascists it’s not that hard, they tend to fall away in some form
Or the civic fabric rots to hell either or
I worry that a lot of people have created a world where they NEED the fascists to have purpose
And that ish harder to get rid of than the fascists
Or the civic fabric rots to hell either or
I worry that a lot of people have created a world where they NEED the fascists to have purpose
And that ish harder to get rid of than the fascists
February 9, 2026 at 1:08 PM
I don’t actually worry if we’ll beat fascists it’s not that hard, they tend to fall away in some form
Or the civic fabric rots to hell either or
I worry that a lot of people have created a world where they NEED the fascists to have purpose
And that ish harder to get rid of than the fascists
Or the civic fabric rots to hell either or
I worry that a lot of people have created a world where they NEED the fascists to have purpose
And that ish harder to get rid of than the fascists
And this kind of diversity is present in every single state. The neighborhood in Nampa, Idaho, where I lived for 7 years had more than 45 languages spoken at the elementary school. The Portland, OR, neighborhood where I now live has 38.
To reject the US as a fundamentally American country with a deep shared history and commonality with the rest of the Americas, including that Spanish has long been our de facto national second language, is on a deep level anti-American. It's hating actual American culture and history and tradition.
February 9, 2026 at 1:36 PM
And this kind of diversity is present in every single state. The neighborhood in Nampa, Idaho, where I lived for 7 years had more than 45 languages spoken at the elementary school. The Portland, OR, neighborhood where I now live has 38.
Notice how even a simple thing like masking is covered by NPR as "extreme" as opposed to "common-sense," "informed by science," or "thoughtful."
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy. n.pr/4akK70l
Olympic Covid restrictions are gone, but some athletes still self-quarantining
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy.
n.pr
February 9, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Notice how even a simple thing like masking is covered by NPR as "extreme" as opposed to "common-sense," "informed by science," or "thoughtful."
Emmett Wheatfall and the Christopher Brown Quartet offered The Weary Blues, a celebration of Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance at the Alberta Abbey last night - one of the most memorable evenings, truly amazing
February 8, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Emmett Wheatfall and the Christopher Brown Quartet offered The Weary Blues, a celebration of Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance at the Alberta Abbey last night - one of the most memorable evenings, truly amazing
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
my second book DIFFERENT WITH HIM is out now 💖
a collection of haphazard masculinities. an effort to find belonging. a love song for genders + genres in flux.
📖 www.rockwoodpress.com/bookstore/p/...
ISBN included—request it at your library! dms open to collab.
#translit #poetry #newbook
a collection of haphazard masculinities. an effort to find belonging. a love song for genders + genres in flux.
📖 www.rockwoodpress.com/bookstore/p/...
ISBN included—request it at your library! dms open to collab.
#translit #poetry #newbook
Different With Him: Poems by mk zariel — Rockwood Press
From classic inner-voice scenes to an overly dramatic debate at an anarchist convergence, this chapbook describes the ephemera of a transmasculine adolescence, the joys and failings of homosociality, ...
www.rockwoodpress.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:13 AM
my second book DIFFERENT WITH HIM is out now 💖
a collection of haphazard masculinities. an effort to find belonging. a love song for genders + genres in flux.
📖 www.rockwoodpress.com/bookstore/p/...
ISBN included—request it at your library! dms open to collab.
#translit #poetry #newbook
a collection of haphazard masculinities. an effort to find belonging. a love song for genders + genres in flux.
📖 www.rockwoodpress.com/bookstore/p/...
ISBN included—request it at your library! dms open to collab.
#translit #poetry #newbook
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
signups are still open for my reading in #Minneapolis! www.eventbrite.com/e/mk-zariel-...
and if you can't make it, the book itself is available online: www.vinegarpress.org/store/p/boy-...
and if you can't make it, the book itself is available online: www.vinegarpress.org/store/p/boy-...
mk zariel presents Boy Apparition
mk zariel presents Boy Apparition
www.eventbrite.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:30 PM
signups are still open for my reading in #Minneapolis! www.eventbrite.com/e/mk-zariel-...
and if you can't make it, the book itself is available online: www.vinegarpress.org/store/p/boy-...
and if you can't make it, the book itself is available online: www.vinegarpress.org/store/p/boy-...
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
I have incarcerated comrades & loved ones who are enduring the daily torture of US prisons. They also continue to make art. They often don't have the proper supplies and yet they make it knowing that it will never make it out to anyone else. But they continue to make art nonetheless. Keep making art
February 8, 2026 at 1:51 AM
I have incarcerated comrades & loved ones who are enduring the daily torture of US prisons. They also continue to make art. They often don't have the proper supplies and yet they make it knowing that it will never make it out to anyone else. But they continue to make art nonetheless. Keep making art
With the added advantage that they are pedestrian friendly and a chance to get to know your neighbors better
Filter Blockades: A Tactic to Defend Your Neighborhood from ICE
We review how to establish and maintain filter blockades, share accounts from filter blockades in the Twin Cities this past week, and conclude with a broader look at the history and potential of the model.
We review how to establish and maintain filter blockades, share accounts from filter blockades in the Twin Cities this past week, and conclude with a broader look at the history and potential of the model.
Filter Blockades
Demonstrators in the Twin Cities have been experimenting with filter blockades, a means of monitoring traffic for federal agents and obstructing their activities.
crimethinc.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:45 PM
With the added advantage that they are pedestrian friendly and a chance to get to know your neighbors better
From "Of Peonies and Murderous Doings" by Maryann Hurtt
my grandfather tells a story
how as a young man
he made his way to Clay County
backcountry
Missouri
where Frank James
existed out his last years
after a lifetime
of rebel yelling-robbing
and assorted other murderous doings
my grandfather tells a story
how as a young man
he made his way to Clay County
backcountry
Missouri
where Frank James
existed out his last years
after a lifetime
of rebel yelling-robbing
and assorted other murderous doings
February 6, 2026 at 8:01 PM
From "Of Peonies and Murderous Doings" by Maryann Hurtt
my grandfather tells a story
how as a young man
he made his way to Clay County
backcountry
Missouri
where Frank James
existed out his last years
after a lifetime
of rebel yelling-robbing
and assorted other murderous doings
my grandfather tells a story
how as a young man
he made his way to Clay County
backcountry
Missouri
where Frank James
existed out his last years
after a lifetime
of rebel yelling-robbing
and assorted other murderous doings