Marcus Wicker
LightNews LightNews
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Marcus Wicker
@poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
1.6K followers 330 following 77 posts
Maybe the Saddest Thing & Silencer @eccobooks. Former Harvard @RadInstitute Fellow & @NEAarts Fellow. @uofmemphis MFA Prof. Boxing fanatic. Human as all get-out.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Marcus Wicker @poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social · May 14
I’ve got news! My third poetry collection, DEAR MOTHERSHIP, is forthcoming from Ecco in 2026. I wrote this book through grief, lapses in faith, career highs, bouts of disillusionment with the world, & a hard-fought rediscovery of joy. I’m so excited to share it with you!
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
mayacpopa.bsky.social
Every time I re-read Mueller, I'm reminded I should teach a class on her work:
February 4, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
niina.bsky.social
Re-sharing this today! I wrote about an emerging millennial poetics of work, as represented through three great poetry books. fencedigital.com/2026/01/30/c...
A millennial poetics of work in late capitalist america. Feat. Works & Days by gina myers, I Was Working by Ariel Yelen, and Making a Living by Rosalie Moffett
February 2, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
nikitagill.bsky.social
This hit so fucking hard today.
CHARLES RAFFERTY The Problem with Early Warnings People don't like to leave a party unless the house is actually on fire. Even then, if the flames are far enough away to be pretty, they'll finish their drink, take one more pass at the hors d'oeuvres. How things happen has always been unclear. Hurricanes begin in a place where no one lives. Agents of the government start to wear masks. Fascism is a word my neighbors won't use yet. They are following the law, they say, and the sirens are coming for someone else.
January 26, 2026 at 8:52 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Common & John Legend
Esperanza Spalding
A Tribe Called Quest reunion show at Rock the Bells Chicago
Roy Hargrove
Frankie Beverly
iheartnoise.bandcamp.com I Heart Noise @iheartnoise.bandcamp.com · 16d
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Diamanda Galas
Beth Gibbons
Beth Orton
Bob Mould
Jawbox

bsky.app/profile/aund...
aundriaparker.bsky.social nibbles maplestick @aundriaparker.bsky.social · Nov 28
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Gorillaz
Tegan & Sara
Interpol
Jay Z
X
January 22, 2026 at 2:12 AM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
apnews.com
Rachel Eliza Griffiths is releasing her memoir, "The Flower Bearers," after enduring profound personal tragedies.
The pain, and joy, of Rachel Eliza Griffiths' writing journey
Rachel Eliza Griffiths is releasing her memoir, “The Flower Bearers,” after enduring profound personal tragedies.
bit.ly
January 19, 2026 at 10:00 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Aren’t you?
January 9, 2026 at 12:47 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
My 1-month-old son is instantly soothed by Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much.” So basically we’re nailing parenthood over here.
January 6, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
susanlleary.bsky.social
Aracelis Girmay ♥️
To Waste My Hands Three years ago, I stood on the dock near my father's house while the small shark suffocated & was killed. He was like an angel culled up from the purple sea. & the air smashed into him like an anvil & his muscles sank desperately into the ribs. Terrible terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible to watch him that way. More terrible to waste my hands, just standing.
January 6, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
oxfordamerican.bsky.social
“I’ve got the blues and I don’t, but I do.”

— @poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social details the National Guard’s arrival in Memphis, Tennessee, where the governor has authorized federal government intervention to carry out anti-immigration initiatives.

🔗: https://shorturl.at/rOP5B
January 5, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
shelaghrowanlegg.northsky.social
this weekend's #poetry book from @upfromsumdirt.bsky.social
The cover of 'The Second Stop Is Jupiter' by upfromsomedirt, featuring an astronaut-maiden wearing a white dress with a nlue sash, a transparent helmet with a tube attached to an oxygen tank, shaking hands with tentacled beings.
January 4, 2026 at 5:58 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
I’ve been giving myself permission to complete some essays on my first love, music. Thanks to @oxfordamerican.bsky.social for running this piece about how the blues can become a sanctuary & rallying cry, an outlet for communal joy in a moment of political tension. oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/a-blu...
A Bluff City Blues
oxfordamerican.org
January 5, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
luke-rage.bsky.social
the incomparable Marcus Wicker @poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social

I love the way this begins:

"Protected by contoured sunglasses, body armor, and Military Police shields stitched to their backs, the National Guard have come to combat crime at the Bass Pro Shop."

oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/a-blu...
A Bluff City Blues
oxfordamerican.org
January 5, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
litbowl.bsky.social
Another perfect New Year's Day poem.

From Jane Hirshfield's book, After: bookshop.org/a/862/9780060779191

#poem #books #writing
January 1, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
ampoetryreview.bsky.social
⏰ Last call for entries! Deadline is 11:59pm EST Jan 1! The Stern Prize is open to all poets age 50+, regardless of previous publication history. The prize of $2,000 will be awarded in 2026 with publication by APR in partnership with Copper Canyon Press in the following year. More: loom.ly/JUkTfFM
December 29, 2025 at 7:58 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Started my Christmas by dancing around the living room with baby in my arms to the Marcus King Band at 4 AM & then working on a poem🎄🎅🏾
December 25, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
slowdownshow.org
"Today’s poem charmed me immediately with its imagination and its restraint," host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shared in today's episode of The Slowdown, number 1406. "It’s also a poem I want to read again as soon as I finish it."

Read "Paperweight" by Ryan Teitman: bit.ly/4oZE6fH
Text graphic featuring a portion of Ryan Teitman's poem: Every few months or so, I turn into a rock. First, my joints stiffen as if there’s weather coming. Then, I get the urge to read some doorstop novel. Finally, I become a rock. A smallish one, usually. My wife isn’t surprised anymore. She picks me up from the kitchen floor or the driveway and sets me on her desk as a paperweight. It’s nice to have a singular purpose. Photograph of poet Ryan Teitman. He's a bearded white man and is wearing glasses and a blue sweater.
November 28, 2025 at 8:07 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
No matter what, an hour spent talking shit in the barbershop is alway gonna lift me up. It’s also always mad insightful, for better or worse. & when it’s worse, man…
October 30, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
slowdownshow.org
"Today’s poem is so relatable, because the speaker is doing what I so often do: watching videos on the internet in the middle of the night," says host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social in episode 1375.

Read “Dear Absent," by @poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4nUopG3
graphic featuring a portion of Marcus Wicker's poem photograph of poet Marcus Wicker
October 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
slowdownshow.org
"Today’s poem speaks to the ways we can care for one another, and of how profound and meaningful even the smallest gestures are,” shares host @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social in today’s episode.

Read “Lotioning My Mother’s Back” by Ama Codjoe: bit.ly/3KCwVKR

📖: @milkweededitions.bsky.social
Graphic featuring a portion of Ama Codjoe's poem "Lotioning My Mother's Back" Headshot of poet Ama Codjoe
September 24, 2025 at 2:41 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Just got to email zero. It may never happen again this year, & that’ll have to do.
August 28, 2025 at 8:06 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
Fit check for the first day, year 9 in Memphis
August 25, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
readalittlepoem.bsky.social
Today’s poem is selected by Emily Skaja (@emilyskaja.bsky.social‬) as part of the 20th anniversary of Read A Little Poetry.

It appeared in The Master Letters by Lucie Brock-Broido, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Shared here with deep gratitude.
August 24, 2025 at 2:02 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
My favorite poet showing out, showing her whole heart❤️ @emilyskaja.bsky.social
August 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
poetmarcuswicker.bsky.social
I’ve worn my Blowout Comb shirt in NYC, Detroit, & Chicago. But in the last 10 minutes 4 people have stopped me to say “Digable Planets changed my life.” Which is to say, Memphis is a real ass music town & people forget to say that part. When I say people I mean media. & people who don’t go outside.
August 8, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Marcus Wicker
dapowell.bsky.social
Only just now discovering this Lucille Clifton poem dedicated to Clark Kent.
if i should to clark kent enter the darkest room in my house and speak with my own voice, at last, about its awful furniture, pulling apart the covering over the dusty bodies; the randy father, the husband holding ice in his hand like a blessing, the mother bleeding into herself and the small imploding girl, i say if i should walk into that web, who will come flying after me, leaping tall buildings? you? (By Lucille Clifton)
July 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM