Todd Dillard
@toddedillard.bsky.social
“Ways We Vanish” from Okay Donkey, “Ragnarök at the Father Daughter Dance” from Variant, finalist for the Donald Hall AWP Prize, poems in Threepenny, Southern Review, APR, HAD, etc.
Pinned
my issue of Threepenny is here! here’s my poem “Present Tense,” I would love for you to give it a read!
“I know this so loudly I don’t
hear, at first, my father’s silence.”
“I know this so loudly I don’t
hear, at first, my father’s silence.”
I keep thinking about this and realize it’s because a lot of my work is more about beginning the poem like I’m talking to the dead and ending the poem realizing I’m speaking again to the ones I love who are, briefly, alive again
Begin the poem like you're talking to a friend, end it realizing you're talking to the dead.
-- Harmony Holiday
-- Harmony Holiday
February 12, 2026 at 4:14 PM
I keep thinking about this and realize it’s because a lot of my work is more about beginning the poem like I’m talking to the dead and ending the poem realizing I’m speaking again to the ones I love who are, briefly, alive again
“thought leader” is such a weird example of corpo-speak especially when you think about how it describes the first lemming to go over a cliff
February 12, 2026 at 3:28 PM
“thought leader” is such a weird example of corpo-speak especially when you think about how it describes the first lemming to go over a cliff
Reposted by Todd Dillard
now that is a poem title
February 10, 2026 at 2:22 PM
now that is a poem title
a poem I haven't written yet: my grandfather accidentally wandered onto a movie set and Freddy Kruger asked him for a light
February 12, 2026 at 1:57 PM
a poem I haven't written yet: my grandfather accidentally wandered onto a movie set and Freddy Kruger asked him for a light
Reposted by Todd Dillard
I gotta say, "the Pentagon uses a high powered laser to shoot down a party balloon" feels like enough symbolism for awhile. all full up thanks
February 11, 2026 at 8:02 PM
I gotta say, "the Pentagon uses a high powered laser to shoot down a party balloon" feels like enough symbolism for awhile. all full up thanks
Reposted by Todd Dillard
Another poem from Mary Ruefle's Dunce (2019)
February 11, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Another poem from Mary Ruefle's Dunce (2019)
Reposted by Todd Dillard
Reposted by Todd Dillard
I had to look up the word Jouissance
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I had to look up the word Jouissance
I don't want to verify my age I want to sit by a fire in my slippers
February 10, 2026 at 4:27 PM
I don't want to verify my age I want to sit by a fire in my slippers
now that is a poem title
February 10, 2026 at 2:22 PM
now that is a poem title
prematurely put my cat's chair in the sunlight and she still came over and did the ritual of tapping my leg to remind me to put the chair in the sunlight; I just got up and moved it a centimeter and now she's satisfied
February 10, 2026 at 2:12 PM
prematurely put my cat's chair in the sunlight and she still came over and did the ritual of tapping my leg to remind me to put the chair in the sunlight; I just got up and moved it a centimeter and now she's satisfied
it's me! if you want to hear the awful, maybe primordial (?), origins of what eventually became "Present Tense," stop by for a listen!
What was Aaron doing during the second half of the big game? Editing this amazing episode of course! Thanks @toddedillard.bsky.social for coming on the show and sharing a miracle of a revival from whatever that first poem was to the good one! www.mybadpoetry.com/s8e11
That Thursday When the Miracle Died & The Next Best Thing (w/ To…
This week Dave and Aaron welcome Todd Dillard on the show. Though they could have probably done a whole half an hour discussing snow and shovels, they did end up di…
www.mybadpoetry.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:04 PM
it's me! if you want to hear the awful, maybe primordial (?), origins of what eventually became "Present Tense," stop by for a listen!
whenever someone talks about line breaks online someone always shows up and says something like LINE BREAKS ARE ONLY THERE FOR BREATHS and I just can't imagine saying you love poetry while hating it so much
February 9, 2026 at 4:04 PM
whenever someone talks about line breaks online someone always shows up and says something like LINE BREAKS ARE ONLY THERE FOR BREATHS and I just can't imagine saying you love poetry while hating it so much
"five takeaways from bad bunny's performance" this type of thinking has to end
February 9, 2026 at 1:17 PM
"five takeaways from bad bunny's performance" this type of thinking has to end
no seriously why were there so many AI commercials, how can the plagiarism machine that's been hemorrhaging money for years afford an 8 million dollar, 30-second slot to explain how their specific plagiarism machine doesn't have commercials
February 9, 2026 at 12:56 PM
no seriously why were there so many AI commercials, how can the plagiarism machine that's been hemorrhaging money for years afford an 8 million dollar, 30-second slot to explain how their specific plagiarism machine doesn't have commercials
“I went in not knowing anything but my expectations and it’s their fault they didn’t meet them”
"Tell me you know nothing about the Muppets without telling me you know nothing about the Muppets."
February 8, 2026 at 2:39 AM
“I went in not knowing anything but my expectations and it’s their fault they didn’t meet them”
pretty sure I just saw a commercial for a show called The ‘Burbs where two people look out a window and someone says “how long has that house been there” and someone replies “for decades” but it was all thriller-y and I’m like… but that’s… how neighborhoods work…
February 7, 2026 at 8:13 PM
pretty sure I just saw a commercial for a show called The ‘Burbs where two people look out a window and someone says “how long has that house been there” and someone replies “for decades” but it was all thriller-y and I’m like… but that’s… how neighborhoods work…
Reposted by Todd Dillard
holding this up and saying "look what you did" the next time someone is mean to my poem in workshop
February 6, 2026 at 3:39 PM
holding this up and saying "look what you did" the next time someone is mean to my poem in workshop
Reposted by Todd Dillard
For whatever reason, I have a lot of new followers, at least 3 of whom might not be booty bots, so if you're wondering why I talk so much about writing and basketball, it's because that's kinda what I do lately. Basketball novel coming...someday?
Hey! Here, have a pinned thread of my writer stuff.
First, my debut poetry collection came out in June. I'm proud of it. Readers have said it's good, so that's cool. You can get it all the usual places—my favorite is asking an indie bookstore to order it for you via Ingram.
First, my debut poetry collection came out in June. I'm proud of it. Readers have said it's good, so that's cool. You can get it all the usual places—my favorite is asking an indie bookstore to order it for you via Ingram.
February 7, 2026 at 3:44 PM
For whatever reason, I have a lot of new followers, at least 3 of whom might not be booty bots, so if you're wondering why I talk so much about writing and basketball, it's because that's kinda what I do lately. Basketball novel coming...someday?
instead of pruney my son says his fingers are "crinkly" when he gets out of the pool
February 7, 2026 at 3:34 PM
instead of pruney my son says his fingers are "crinkly" when he gets out of the pool
reading poetry at the YMCA pool while my son takes swim lessons is one of my favorite things
February 7, 2026 at 2:57 PM
reading poetry at the YMCA pool while my son takes swim lessons is one of my favorite things
holding this up and saying "look what you did" the next time someone is mean to my poem in workshop
February 6, 2026 at 3:39 PM
holding this up and saying "look what you did" the next time someone is mean to my poem in workshop
poets are the opposite of content creators we basically just make really effed up bowls that you can store the remains of your wondering in
February 6, 2026 at 2:16 PM
poets are the opposite of content creators we basically just make really effed up bowls that you can store the remains of your wondering in
IF YOU'RE A
POET
WE WANT YOU ON [medication]
Turn your poems into content
-ment [CTRL+A + DELETE]
POET
WE WANT YOU ON [medication]
Turn your poems into content
-ment [CTRL+A + DELETE]
Every poet dreams that one day their poems will be c o n t e n t
February 6, 2026 at 2:13 PM
IF YOU'RE A
POET
WE WANT YOU ON [medication]
Turn your poems into content
-ment [CTRL+A + DELETE]
POET
WE WANT YOU ON [medication]
Turn your poems into content
-ment [CTRL+A + DELETE]