Poems for Your Weekend

Substack Poets Edition

Dear Friends,

Last month, I revived our monthly poetry thread for subscribers, and I could not be more glad that I did.

What I witnessed this month was a reminder of the care, decency, and thoughtfulness at the heart of poetic practice. I watched strangers comment generously on one another’s poems, sharing how and why they were moved. I saw vulnerability and candor that wasn’t performed, just human.

I also read some really, really good poems I would not have encountered otherwise.

One of the pleasures of putting together this selection was the range of subjects, registers, and approaches. I found poems in strict forms, poems inventing their own forms, and poems unfolding in lively streams of consciousness. There were poems about grief and loss, of course, but also many rooted in appreciation and pleasure.

I've tried to reflect some of that range in my curation—and, as usual, I’ve tried to link the poems up by echoes in their motifs. My selection is idiosyncratic rather than comprehensive, but please know how much I enjoyed reading your work even if I didn’t include your poem. And please know there’s always next month.

Thank you to Scott Fountain, Nicole Tallman, Michael Judge, Celia Turner, Tom Vandel, Hannah Eve Levy, Barry Casey, Laura Pendell, Louise Ireland, Cathy Jacob, Catherine Kennedy, and Angela Janda for their gorgeous poems and recommendations.

If you would like to submit your poem to our June Poetry Thread, please click below.

Please enjoy this round up—and please follow these writers, as many offer poems regularly on their own Substacks!

xM

P.S. We just opened 10x June passes for Taste of CWC — first come, first served!

by Michael Judge

by Laura Pendell

by Nicole Tallman

by Kirmen Uribe

by Catherine Kennedy

TWO tickets left for non-CWC members to join us for this masterclass on revision:

Conscious Writers Collective (CWC) is a year-round, online literary institution for writers seeking craft instruction, community, and continuity.

Members have access to workshops, craft classes, generative sessions, Office Hours, accountability blocks, publishing conversations, Q&As with writers, editors, and agents, member-led groups, community forums, and a growing replay reference library covering all aspects of literary craft.

2026 is our last year of open enrollment. Fees will increase in 2027, but current members will be grandfathered into their existing plans.