OUR PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEES

The New Verse News is proud to announce its nominees for the next series of the Pushcart Prize.

Click on a title below to read the poem..

Published January 13, 2025

TO THE ASHES IN L.A. by Alexis Krasilovsky

Published March 7, 2025

WOMEN’S HISTORY 2025: SAY HER NAME by Robin Stevens Payes

Published August 27, 2025

GREEN by John Minczeski

Published September 23, 2025

DAUGHTERS by Clare Richardson-Barlow

Published October 12, 2025

2025 by Susan Vespoli

Published November 5, 2025

BJÖRN IN VENICE by Julia Griffin

TO THE ASHES IN L.A.

by Alexis Krasilovsky

AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News.

A poem is a monument

when there aren’t enough stones

to place on the burial grounds

to hold ghosts

in place.

 

A poem is a monument

when you’re exiled from the land

and poems are portable.

 

A poem is a monument

when tears

evaporate before

words can be written down.

 

When you’re fleeing flames

that multiply like stars

in a darkening firmament,

only a poem

can speak to it.

 

When lies propagate

into your flickering

consciousness,

sweeping under rugs

the killing fields.

 

When your bare feet

step onto

radioactive sand.

 

When rose petals fly

in fiery winds,

replaced by embers

and ashes.

 

A poem is a monument

when pots filled with ashes

are left in the rain,

overflowing.

 

When seeds of memories

sprout anew,

and trees grow

high enough to bring shade.

 

          A poem is a monument

          when you take time to imagine

          the gravestones

          of your ancestors.

 

Alexis Krasilovsky most recent book Watermelon Linguistics: New and Selected Poems (Cyberwit) was a finalist in the 2022 International Book Awards. She is also the author of Great Adaptations: Screenwriting and Global Storytelling and has traveled to twenty countries making and screening her global documentary features Women Behind the Camera and Let Them Eat Cake—available for free streaming on Kanopy.com.