Jorie Graham

Nov 30, 2024 | nybooks.com | Nawal K. Arjini |Jorie Graham

Jorie Graham’s poem in our December 5, 2024, issue begins:whizzed past, we liked the look of it, it liquefieddeath, it was here to stay, it actuallyhad nowhere else to go, was in its last stages now, longed to berevelation, longed to be part ofnature making itswhistling sounds above, itsscreamingbelow. The classrooms exploded. The bits of desks lay aboutin the dust-filled amnesia. . . . In her decades-long career, Graham has written many such poems examining the devastating conditions of the world.

Nov 14, 2024 | nybooks.com | Jorie Graham

whizzed past, we liked the look of it, it liquefieddeath, it was here to stay, it actuallyhad nowhere else to go, was in its last stages now, longed to berevelation, longed to be part ofnature making itswhistling sounds above, itsscreamingbelow. The classrooms exploded. The bits of desks lay aboutin the dust-filled amnesia. Were we supposed towake up, or was it never sleepagain—sleepa mind blown to bitsafter each ordnance hits & the cratersopen…We are so late in this story.

Nov 13, 2024 | lrb.co.uk | Jorie Graham

If I bring this voice If I came back again when I come back again if again it is possible required with this voice still this voice so narrow its passage still un trustworthy, too deep the request, too slippery the laddering of – what was the tongue – cold – arrowing – may it not be English – if they invite me back – some morning like this after history if they drag me back some morning like this one the massacre still hot in the field the flashy glinting win again of language over shriek...

Sep 26, 2024 | beta.poetryfoundation.org | Jorie Graham

The blades like irises turning very fast to see you completely—steel-blue then red where the cut occurs—the cut of you—they don’t want to know you they want to own you—no—not own—we all mean to live to the end—am I human we don’t know that—just because I have this way of transmitting—call it voice—a threat—communal actually—the pelagic midwater nets like walls closing round us—starting in the far distance where they just look to us liked distance—distance coming closer—hear it—eliminating...

Sep 25, 2024 | lithub.com | Jorie Graham

Jorie Graham was born in New York City in 1950. She was raised in Rome, Italy and educated in French schools. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris before attending New York University as an undergraduate, where she studied filmmaking. She received an MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa.