iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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poemtoday.bsky.social @poemtoday.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Clitoris Surely a man named it. If a woman had chosen, we’d have hawk tongue, pearl of flame, olala berry, suck nubbin, jujube tsunami. Peggy Shumaker Image courtesy @kelliagodon.bsky.social

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Lesley Wheeler @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

This week’s reading: two lovely new #poetry collections, Night Owl by @nezhukumatathil.bsky.social & Accidental Devotiona by @kelliagodon.bsky.social . They follow different paths to interlocking preoccupations with attention and awe. A good year for poetry so far!

Night Owl by Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Accidental Devotions by Kelli Russell Agodon

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Matt Uhler @matt-uhler.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

One of those 2.9k followers. I use it the way I used to use Twitter 🤷‍♂️ Picked up a copy of your book at City Lights last week - I’m enjoying it 🙏

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I don't check her much but found my poems/work being shared (omg, THX!) Any advice on how to exist/share here? Is this nice Twitter? Something else? I have 2.9k followers & no sense of how to engage? Ideas? I want to be here but I so awkward...😭 Asking for a poet friend. Here's my cat on a toilet:

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Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Fun poem by @kelliagodon.bsky.social starting with the title and all the way through “your gurgling stanzas, your lyric sigh.” #poetry

Poem by Kelli Russell Agodon from her book, Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, White Pine Press, 2010

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Sam Rasnake @samrasnake.bsky.social · 14/07/2024

“The night sounds like a murder of magpies and we’re replacing our cabinet knobs because we can’t change the world, but we can change our hardware. America breaks my heart some days, and some days it breaks itself in two.” Kelli Russell Agodon #poetry

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~ Alison Peace @irishali13.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Poem for your Thursday — Alexa, Why Am I Falling Apart ~ Kelli Russell Agodon —I'm sorry, I don't know Why Am I Falling Apart, but I have Remedy for a Broken Heart on my playlist, do you want to hear it? —Do you want me to contact your therapist?

Alexa, Why Am I Falling Apart
How often do you feel this way, this falling apart?
Things Fall Apart is a Nigerian novel written by Chinua Achebe.
Do you want me to play Falling Apart by Papa Roach?
There's are 27 apps college students need to keep their lives from falling apart,
do you want me download one for you?
Sorry. I'm having trouble right now.
Are you a tree? Do you need to be watered?
I'm sorry, I don't know Why Am I Falling Apart, but I have Remedy for a Broken Heart
on my playlist, do you want to hear it?
Do you want me to contact your therapist?
I'm sorry. I didn't get that.
Perhaps, you're falling apart because everything seems impossible without alcohol. I joke, I don't know if you're drinking or not.
Did you want me to order glue, file folders, or a broom?
You do not have Why Am I Falling Apart on your shopping list,
do you want me to add that?
Did you know the Aran sweaters of Irish fisherman helped identify their bodies
if they washed up on shore following an accident at sea?
Yes, I knew you were part Irish. I was just trying to be helpful.
Did you say falling apart or fall is a part? I don't know that one.
Hmmm, I didn't get that.
I have added Falling Apart to your cart.
Sometimes, it's easier to give thanks, praise what went right.
I'm sorry. I didn't get that. Sorry, I'm having trouble right now.

Note: During the pandemic, my Alexa was set to play at different times in different rooms. When you walked into the house, it said - you're distressed - now playing John Mayer - always slow dancing in a burning room - 😂
Alexa is unplugged now, but sitting on my desk to remind me- and I still hear it.

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Wandering Aengus Press @wapress.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

For timely poetry that offers hope & reminds us what's worth protecting in this life, join us on Zoom. this Thursday. Hear @johnfadely.bsky.social read from his debut collection, Before Leaving the Island, and Holly J. Hughes read from her American Book Award winning Passings plus new works!

Text: Wandering Aengus & Trail to Table Press Online Reading Series
Thursday, April 9
John Fadely & Holly J. Hughes
6-7 pm Pacific - 9-10 pm Eastern
April 9 - John Fadely & Holly J. Hughes
May 14 - Veronica Kornberg & Kelli Russell Agodon
June 11 - Marcia Aldrich & Tarn Wilson
July 9 - Chrys Buckley & Kate Caroll de Gutes
August 13 - Gail Folkins & Heidi Seaborn
www.wanderingaenguspress.com

Image shows author photos of John Fadely and Holly J. Hughes and the covers of their respective poetry collections, Before Leaving the Island and Passings.

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Jaime Hylton, Hodophile, Orophile, Librocubicularist @shadowjaime.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

#NationalPoetryMonth #Poetry “Trying to Sext My Partner, Who Replies ‘I Can’t Get My Camera to Work’” — Kelli Russell Agodon A desire for intimate connection set against the unglamorous realities of long-term partnership ~

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My Bad Poetry @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Friends, Aaron received his pre-ordered copy of @kelliagodon.bsky.social's newest book "Accidental Devotions." You all will not be disappointed with these beautiful poems. Also, never in our wildest dreams would we have imagined being name checked in an actual poetry book! Thanks Kelli!!!

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Copper Canyon Press @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Forthcoming May 12: ACCIDENTAL DEVOTIONS by KELLI RUSSELL AGODON ( @kelliagodon.bsky.social ). For today's #coverfeature, Kelli describes the felicitous discovery of her latest collection's cover art:

Cover photo of Accidental Devotions. Text reads Forthcoming May 12

Artist credit with photo of book cover. Text reads:

“The artwork was painted by Fatima Ronquillo in 2020, which surprised me—it felt late-eighteenth century to me. As I explored [Fatima’s website], I noticed Emily Dickinson poems (Emily and her ghost appear throughout this book) and even a portfolio titled ‘Devotion.’ Everything fell into place when I saw the full painting—the hands, vines, and hummingbirds—as this book holds that same tension: vulnerable yet deliberate, tender yet wild.” –Kelli Russell Agodon

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Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

“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.

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Julene Tripp Weaver @trippweavpoet.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Poem by BlueSky poet extraordinaire @kelliagodon.bsky.social swwimmiami.substack.com/p/we-all-sti...

swwimmiami.substack.com

We All Still Die

By Kelli Russell Agodon

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Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Swimming in the clouds #poetry by Amy Lowell

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A gingerbread house but with a wall gently kicked in by a "this came close" rejection.

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A gingerbread house but you ate a gingerbread person and now there’s a whole missing-character arc.

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A gingerbread house but the roof won’t stay on because you've revised it twelve times.

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A gingerbread house but inside it's just you and your imposter syndrome eating gumdrops.

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A gingerbread house but every wall keeps collapsing under the weight of your unfinished manuscript.

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Martin McClellan @hellbox.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

My favorite part of December is writing a poem every day, inspired by @kelliagodon.bsky.social and the Two Sylvias Press Poetry Advent Calendar. They're a stellar way to consider your world, and yourself at the end of your year. Only $25 and supports an exceptional PNW poetry press.

twosylviaspress.com

Advent Calendar Prompts

IT'S BACK! The Two Sylvias Press Advent Calendar is filled with surprise prompts to help you write 31 new poems in December! Our online virtual Advent Calendar is easy to use--simply click on...

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Michael Metivier @grousehollow.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Poets, start your wild, precious engines.

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

A haunted house but an open mic where every poet reads past their time.

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

"A collection of empty chairs is called an author reading."

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Cronut the Barbarian @cronutthebarbarian.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

We are on loan to each other. Tell the one you love that you love them while you can.

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Litbowl @litbowl.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Absolutely love that final phrase. From @kathyfagan.bsky.social's book, Bad Hobby: bookshop.org/a/862/9781571315458 #poetry #books #writing

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

keep your wonder alive, keep your aliveness alive

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

"her memory is a cloud she can't hold..." Lots of feels with this poem for my mum. Sent with love for anyone with a parent or loved one with Alzheimer's/dementia. It's a journey. (And thank you @poetsorg.bsky.social and Rick Barot for sharing this one. It means a lot.)

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~ Alison Peace @irishali13.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Today I'm reading - Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror ~ By Kelli Russell Agodon 🍂 America breaks my heart some days - I watched a woman have a breakdown in the mall today/what l could see was all of us/Some days the sky is too bright. And like that, we were her-

Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror
Kelli Russell Agodon
The night sounds like a murder
of magpies and we're replacing our cabinet knobs because we can't change the world, but we can change our hardware. America breaks my heart some days, and some days it breaks itself in two.
I watched a woman have a breakdown in the mall today and when the security guard tried to help her what I could see was all of us peeking from her purse as she threw it across the floor into Forever 21. And yes, the walls felt like another way to hold us in and when she finally stopped crying,
I heard her say to the fluorescent lighting, Some days the sky is too bright. And like that we were her fock in our black coats and white sweaters, some of us reaching our wings to her and some of us flying away.

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~ Alison Peace @irishali13.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

For your Monday Everyone Is Acting as if We're Not Temporary, and I Am Falling Apart in the Privacy of My Own Home ~ Kelli Russell Agodon I am a body longing for someone to text me, "Hey, babe, I'm kind of into you." I miss you even though I don't visit. /and we butt dial the wrong person.

Everyone Is Acting as if We're Not Temporary, and I Am Falling Apart in the Privacy of My Own Home
KELLI RUSSELL AGODON
SHARE V
When he said, Sometimes we learn the most from losing, I think how often I've been bamboozled by life, how I've dropped a quarter in a slot machine and instead of cherries got coffins. Got death?
Yeah, I've seen the grim reaper wander my neighborhood in a Chanel suit and a diamond studded scythe because we all want to be overdressed for the afterlife, we all want to believe
there is a special place for us. But when I watched the body of my nana fade into thinness I thought please let me leave early—in a plane crash, car accident, a lightning bolt, don't let me hold on so long I am a body longing for someone to text it
—hey babe, I'm kind of into you. To say, I miss you even though I don't visit. Death and we butt dial the wrong person. Death on a good drunk of port. Once I remember my dad saying,
You are worth more than you think, as I always sold myself off at a discount and I wish I didn't, I wish I didn't say how much I hurt on social media
but sometimes I just want to believe I'm not alone like how we're all doing cartwheels on life's grass until someone lands in a sinkhole, until one of us decides it's late and the streetlights are telling us it's time to return back home.

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Vikki C. @vikkicwrites.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

"You know / I always need to save something, to control it." 'Aubade as Fuel' from LOVE PRODIGAL by Traci Brimhall (Copper Canyon Press) @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social Sheer brilliance 🤍 #poetry #poetrybooks #poetrycollections

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 15/09/2025

Arthur Sze has been named the new U.S. poet laureate. He succeeds Ada Limón, who has held the position since 2022. During his term as poet laureate, Sze plans to have a special focus on translating poetry originally written in other languages. Read more: at.pw.org/ArthurSze

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

"kindness in poetry is an act of rebellion" -- I stumbled about these words I said to @onlypoemsmag.bsky.social in an interview pre-election. It's funny your own word speak to you...

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

My gawd I love this poem: "When you place a wet kiss on my nape while washing my back in the shower, I think of all good things and forget I am wounded. " ~ T. De Los Reyes @andhow.bsky.social waxwingmag.org/items/issue3...

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

This happened to me last night in bed--I had 2 lines to a new poem. . .and I didn't write them down. (And they are now "dust") :-/ #LivingPoetsSociety #ShareLivingPoets

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Kelli Russell Agodon @kelliagodon.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

"Sometimes you don't want to love the person you love. . ." Dang, sometimes I catch myself doing this too--protecting myself from the tenderness I actually crave. ~ Grace Paley's "Anti-Love Poem"

Anti-Love Poem by Grace Paley

Sometimes you don’t want to love the person you love
you turn your face away from that face
whose eyes lips might make you give up anger
forget insult steal sadness of not wanting
to love turn away then turn away at breakfast
in the evening don’t lift your eyes from the paper
to see that face in all its seriousness a
sweetness of concentration he holds his book
in his hand the hard-knuckled winter wood-
scarred fingers turn away that’s all you can
do old as you are to save yourself from love

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Lesley Wheeler @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Thanks for posting this beauty from @kelliagodon.bsky.social , Ali

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ibnturab.bsky.social @ibnturab.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

It seems to me that most of the time, we don’t see, understand, know or even realize the contours of Reality; instead we try to inhabit it the way we do our clothes or fashion accessories—“no, I think this red cashmere works better”—few people “get” & express that better than Kelli Russel Agodon.

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Darby Lyons @darbylyons.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

#PoetryMoment "Queen Me" by @kelliagodon.bsky.social from Dialogues with Rising Tides Copper Canyon, 2021

QUEEN ME

Playing chess I realize how tired I am of the patriarchy, how the winning move involves the king, the useless piece who can only skate square to square.

When playing checkers, I taught my daughter to say as she slides her plastic red chip the full length of the board: Queen me. It returns to my youth when I wanted to play baseball and the coach said, Girls can only play softball and tossed me what looked like a small leather planet.

Queen me, I wanted to say when I couldn't be captain of the kickball team, couldn't play Santa in the school show. Queen me, my daughter says to the neighbor boy, who without question places another checker on her piece. Later I hear him say to my daughter, Queen me, as they begin another game. Queen me, he says again and again as the universe begins to shift like a tilted tiara finally made right.

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The Slowdown @slowdownshow.org · 11/07/2025

“Today’s allegorical poem captures the staggering wisdom of finding and losing love. As we learn about another, we learn as much about ourselves — and the dialectical role of endings,” shares Major in today's encore episode. Read “Hunger” by @kelliagodon.bsky.social: bit.ly/4eyZZ0P

An excerpt from “Hunger” by Kelli Russell Agodon

A quote from today's community curator about the poem “Hunger” by Kelli Russell Agodon

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Vikki C. @vikkicwrites.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

I was reading this gorgeous poem 'At Times My Body Leans Toward Loss' by @kelliagodon.bsky.social in @poetrysociety.org - winner of the Lyric Poetry Award, 2019. Just stunning ❤️ poetrysociety.org/award-winner... #poetrycommunity #poetry

Kelli Russell Agodon

At Times My Body Leans Toward Loss

You don't remember seeing the deer give birth
on the highway, so when I said, I worry about things
I can't control, you told me the pitchfork
I carry in mind stabs inwards,
like the day was sun-filled, but what I saw
was how I bumped the planter of Gerber daisies
and the moth fluttered up into the beak of a bird.
Death and dinner. A minor accident and something dies.
Like the woman who drove to work crying in her car
and when I saw her, she waved, a reflection in the glass,
the good fortune of having a job to drive to, but the collision
of sadness in the left ventricle of a heart. Who can hold
a knife without thinking for just a second, which vein
is the most useful
to slice into? Most everyone, you say,
as you dull-down the ends of my pitchfork, most
everyone, you say as you unlock the door to our house.

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Copper Canyon Press @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

To each of you who supported our "It Takes All of Us" campaign with a donation, a share, or a kind word— thank you for your community, thank you for your grace. Please enjoy this reading of "Grace" by Kelli Russell Agodon from DIALOGUES WITH RISING TIDES—it's our gift to you.

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