Grown Ocean

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THIS WORLD IS CRUEL TO THOSE WHO

INSIST UPON STAYING OPEN TO IT.

MATT MITCHELL, THE POEMS IN GROWN OCEAN

SHOW US AGAIN AND AGAIN,

IS ONE SUCH SOUL-

EVERYWHERE IS AN OCCASION

FOR GRATITUDE AND AWE,

FROM BUFFALO NICKELS TO COHABITATION

TO MEAT LOAF TO ASTRONOMY

TO COKE ZERO TO, YES, LOVE.

AND THAT IS HARD, RETAINING

SUCH A PERMEABILITY TO TENDERNESS

IN A CULTURE, A NATION, THAT CONSPIRES

SO RELENTLESSLY AGAINST IT.

IT’S GOOD AND NOTABLE WORK,

THE LOVING THESE POEMS TAKE UP.

AND THEY’RE VERY GOOD POEMS.

-KAVEH AKBAR, AUTHOR OF PILGRIM BELL

Matt Mitchell is an intersex writer living in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote The Neon Hollywood Cowboy (Big Lucks, 2021) and tweets @matt_mitchell48.