Danny Rivera
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snareshot.bsky.social
Danny Rivera
@snareshot.bsky.social
Father and husband, teacher and writer.

Author of the poetry chapbook, “Ancestral Throat” (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Poems in Denver Quarterly, Superstition Review, Epiphany, Washington Square Review, and elsewhere.

https://dannyrivera.co
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Since I’m new here, I thought I’d share a link to my chapbook, “Ancestral Throat,” a collection about family, migration, and memory (among other things). Eternal thanks and an endless stream of records to @monostich.bsky.social for writing one of the beautiful blurbs.

bookshop.org/p/books/ance...
Drummers, especially of the rock variety, fall into two camps: those who play in service of the song; and those who play to be heard, to satisfy their own egos.

John Bonham, while wildly inventive—using his kit like a melodic instrument—falls into the former group.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=la-z...
Nobody's Fault but Mine (Remaster)
YouTube video by Led Zeppelin - Topic
m.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Your Word of the Day is “vibratile,” adjective: (of cilia, flagella, or other small appendage) - capable of, or characterized by, oscillatory motion.

As read in Vincenzo Latronico’s “Perfection” (New York Review Books).
November 25, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Folks, it’s time we made a change. Can you chip in $5 to my campaign today? The future of postmodern American poetry is in your hands.

dannyrivera.co
November 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Spent the last month fostering the sweetest dog, a pitbull named Bonita Applebum, after the song by Tribe Called Quest. Today, her new parents traveled from Boston to pick her up, and she’s on her way to her new home. We’ll miss her personality, but are glad that she found her forever family.
October 5, 2025 at 11:45 PM
A poem by Hayden Carruth, “The Cardinal” (part of a longer poem), from a collection called SCRAMBLED EGGS & WHISKEY (Copper Canyon, 1996).
October 1, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Danny Rivera
Last call for entries! The Monica Taylor Poetry Prize closes at the end of September, so don't miss your chance to be part of this beloved competition.

💚$300 first prize + publication in the December issue of takahē
💚$150 runner up

www.takahe.org.nz/submit/
September 24, 2025 at 9:27 PM
New York! I’ll be reading with Emily Skillings and John Yau at Anton Kern Gallery in Manhattan next Friday, 9/26/25. Please RSVP at conaltura.us/blogs/news/a...

Hope to see you there!

CC: @finishinglinepress.bsky.social
September 15, 2025 at 10:00 PM
What movie shall we watch in 35mm? (My pick is “They Live,” though I’d be fine with “Trolls 2.”)
September 12, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Anyhow, I’m thinking of the awful events that took place in New York, and elsewhere, 24 years ago today, of the victims whose lives were taken, and of a world—a certain version of it, anyway—that no longer exists.
September 11, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Living in the United States requires accepting that a) no safe spaces exist (if they ever did); and b) one may be shot to death anywhere, at any place, for any reason.
Frey: And don't just say, this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.
August 27, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Listening to Steve Gunn’s “Music for Writers” because it is exactly the kind of moody, meditative music I need to, you know, get some writing done.

youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Music For Writers - YouTube
youtube.com
August 20, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Jan Davidszoon de Heem, “Vase of Flowers,” oil on canvas, circa 1660.
July 18, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Please respect my privacy as I am about to take a deep dive into this very, very important book. Thank you.
July 16, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Enjoying this poem by Ryan Habermeyer, part of a larger piece titled “Portrait of a Desert with Necronauts,” in the latest issue (Vol. 59, #3) of Denver Quarterly.
July 12, 2025 at 7:59 PM
I’m hardly superstitious, but I’ve already seen two Cybertrucks (gross) within the last 30 minutes, which just seems like a bad sign for how the rest of my day will go.
July 9, 2025 at 1:48 PM
If some men don’t read fiction it’s because they’re taught that reading is a waste of time, that it has no useful function—unlike, say, mowing the lawn or betting on MMA matches. Or, you know, reading is somehow a “feminine” endeavor to be avoided. 🙄

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s...
Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear?
www.nytimes.com
June 28, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Some things never change.
June 24, 2025 at 3:19 PM
New motto:
June 20, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I’m day-drinking at a bar in Brooklyn. What book am I reading to indicate that I’m a card-carrying member of the intelligentsia?

1. Joan Didion - “The White Album”
2. Vladimir Nabokov - “Pale Fire”
3. Thomas Pynchon - “The Crying of Lot 49”
4. Saul Bellow - “Herzog”
5. Philip K. Dick - “Ubik”
June 19, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Folks, thrilled to announce that I finally graduated from high school today. Looking forward to all the wonderful things in my future!
June 13, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Listen, I hope that I’m wrong here, but it’s only a matter of time before Trum* and his bloodthirsty goons refer to the protests in LA as “an insurrection” (oh, the irony) and start firing on people who are simply exercising their First Amendment rights.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06...
June 8, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Tear gas > flash-bang grenades > live rounds
June 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Takeshi Kitano’s “Violent Cop” is about, yes, a violent cop who stretches professional and ethical boundaries, but it’s also about the deep moral rot that runs through our most basic of institutions, eating away at society to the point where the line between “good” and “bad” is blurred.
June 1, 2025 at 1:08 AM
One of the best things about teaching Romeo + Juliet to teenagers is that they up understanding the story using their own terms:

Student 1 (as Balthazar): “Shawty in a better hood now. 🕊️ 🙏 ✝️💀🪦”
Student 2 (as Romeo): “Oh, word? I’m gonna hop in my whip and go find shawty, uno nunca sabe. 🐎 💔”
May 28, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Made myself chuckle at the thought of a Trum* presidential library. What would be in it? Dozens of copies of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”? Files related to various divorce proceedings? What other items would fill the shelves at such a place?
May 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM