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FOOL FOR POETRY
INTERNATIONAL CHAPBOOK
COMPETITION 2018

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New Irish Voices
Poetry chapbooks by
Roisin Kelly & Paul McMahon

Liberty Walks Naked
by Maram al-Masri, trans. Theo Dorgan

Chapbooks by Fool for Poetry
Competition Winners 2018

Not in Heaven by Molly Minturn
Bog Arabic by Bernadette McCarthy

Richesses: Francophone Songwriter Poets
Edited and translated by Aidan Hayes

Munster Literature Centre

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JONATHAN GREENHAUSE

A four-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, Jonathan Greenhause was longlisted for last year’s National Poetry Competition by The Poetry Society and was a finalist for the 2015 Aesthetica Creative Writing Award.  His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Believer, The Dark Horse, Folio, The Moth, Popshot, RATTLE, RHINO, and Stand, among others.

Our Recurring List of Heartbreaks

I gave birth to a napkin   but it was ripped apart.

I gave birth to a giraffe   but our ceilings weren’t high enough.

I gave birth to a jigsaw puzzle   missing several pieces.

I gave birth to a Caribbean cruise   without the flight to port.

I gave birth to a snowstorm   in the middle of July.

I gave birth to a dog   but we’re allowed no pets.

I gave birth to a mansion   right before its demolition.  

I gave birth to a President of the United States   but disliked her politics.  

I gave birth to a flower   but was allergic to bees.

I gave birth to a black hole   & was poised at its event horizon.

I gave birth to a mistake   & couldn’t undo what would be our undoing.  

I gave birth to a religion   but without renouncing my present faith.  

I gave birth to a pair of shoes   that fit neither one of us.

I gave birth to a future   incompatible with our history.

I gave birth to a funeral   before we decided on a name.

©2016 Jonathan Greenhause

Author Links

'Fire Flowers': poem by Jonathan Greenhause at Rattle

Interview with Jonathan Greenhause at Fjords Review

Interview with Jonathan Greenhause at Pine Hills Review