Chera Hammons
@chera-writes.bsky.social
#Poet and #novelist whose work is based in love for the natural world. New #poetry collection Birds of America forthcoming from The Dial Press.
"She maps her own disaster with silence."
These are lines from the poem "How to Write About It," which first appeared in the Red Sky anthology, and is included in my 2017 book The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#thetravelersguidetobombcity
These are lines from the poem "How to Write About It," which first appeared in the Red Sky anthology, and is included in my 2017 book The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#thetravelersguidetobombcity
October 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
"She maps her own disaster with silence."
These are lines from the poem "How to Write About It," which first appeared in the Red Sky anthology, and is included in my 2017 book The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#thetravelersguidetobombcity
These are lines from the poem "How to Write About It," which first appeared in the Red Sky anthology, and is included in my 2017 book The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#thetravelersguidetobombcity
Reposted by Chera Hammons
Tonight: taught Hester Pulter on motherhood and flowers, early modern representations of cactus, and two beautiful poems by @chera-writes.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Tonight: taught Hester Pulter on motherhood and flowers, early modern representations of cactus, and two beautiful poems by @chera-writes.bsky.social
Gray hairstreak butterfly. So small and intricate. All dressed up. I like to think of the moment a butterfly opens its wings as "the big reveal."
September 12, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Gray hairstreak butterfly. So small and intricate. All dressed up. I like to think of the moment a butterfly opens its wings as "the big reveal."
"A scar is not the only way to prove there was a wound."
These are lines from the poem "Salvage List," title poem of my new book Salvage List, now available through Belle Point Press.
#poetry
#salvagelist
These are lines from the poem "Salvage List," title poem of my new book Salvage List, now available through Belle Point Press.
#poetry
#salvagelist
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
"A scar is not the only way to prove there was a wound."
These are lines from the poem "Salvage List," title poem of my new book Salvage List, now available through Belle Point Press.
#poetry
#salvagelist
These are lines from the poem "Salvage List," title poem of my new book Salvage List, now available through Belle Point Press.
#poetry
#salvagelist
These are lines from the poem "Red Mare," in my new book Salvage List, available through Belle Point Press.
"There is no courage unless fear comes first.
This blistering brilliance means nothing at all,
except that we are alive."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#salvagelist
"There is no courage unless fear comes first.
This blistering brilliance means nothing at all,
except that we are alive."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#salvagelist
July 28, 2025 at 3:42 PM
These are lines from the poem "Red Mare," in my new book Salvage List, available through Belle Point Press.
"There is no courage unless fear comes first.
This blistering brilliance means nothing at all,
except that we are alive."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#salvagelist
"There is no courage unless fear comes first.
This blistering brilliance means nothing at all,
except that we are alive."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
#poetry
#salvagelist
"Every day contains something from before that carries over with us,
and something else always just about to begin."
These are lines from "Sparrows," which first appeared at Rattle.com and is in my poetry collection The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more #poetry. Thank you!
and something else always just about to begin."
These are lines from "Sparrows," which first appeared at Rattle.com and is in my poetry collection The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more #poetry. Thank you!
June 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
"Every day contains something from before that carries over with us,
and something else always just about to begin."
These are lines from "Sparrows," which first appeared at Rattle.com and is in my poetry collection The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more #poetry. Thank you!
and something else always just about to begin."
These are lines from "Sparrows," which first appeared at Rattle.com and is in my poetry collection The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
Please follow for more #poetry. Thank you!
"I'm ashamed to admit that even having known plenty,
I still don't know what enough is,
only what it isn't."
The full poem "Upon Reading that Fruit Flies Age Faster Once They Have Seen Death" appears in Rattle.com & in Birds of America (The Dial Press, avail. 2026).
#poetry
#birdsofamericabook
I still don't know what enough is,
only what it isn't."
The full poem "Upon Reading that Fruit Flies Age Faster Once They Have Seen Death" appears in Rattle.com & in Birds of America (The Dial Press, avail. 2026).
#poetry
#birdsofamericabook
June 4, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"I'm ashamed to admit that even having known plenty,
I still don't know what enough is,
only what it isn't."
The full poem "Upon Reading that Fruit Flies Age Faster Once They Have Seen Death" appears in Rattle.com & in Birds of America (The Dial Press, avail. 2026).
#poetry
#birdsofamericabook
I still don't know what enough is,
only what it isn't."
The full poem "Upon Reading that Fruit Flies Age Faster Once They Have Seen Death" appears in Rattle.com & in Birds of America (The Dial Press, avail. 2026).
#poetry
#birdsofamericabook
"What we must learn here is not our loneliness."
This is a line from my poem "Amnesties," which opens my 2020 collection Maps of Injury, available through Sundress Publications.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you! <3
#poetry
#mapsofinjury
#loneliness
This is a line from my poem "Amnesties," which opens my 2020 collection Maps of Injury, available through Sundress Publications.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you! <3
#poetry
#mapsofinjury
#loneliness
June 2, 2025 at 3:29 PM
"What we must learn here is not our loneliness."
This is a line from my poem "Amnesties," which opens my 2020 collection Maps of Injury, available through Sundress Publications.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you! <3
#poetry
#mapsofinjury
#loneliness
This is a line from my poem "Amnesties," which opens my 2020 collection Maps of Injury, available through Sundress Publications.
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you! <3
#poetry
#mapsofinjury
#loneliness
Took a break from writing (and doomscrolling) yesterday to watch Flash's mane blow in the wind. It helped.
Please follow for more animals, poetry, and musings!
#minihorse
#poetry
Please follow for more animals, poetry, and musings!
#minihorse
#poetry
May 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Took a break from writing (and doomscrolling) yesterday to watch Flash's mane blow in the wind. It helped.
Please follow for more animals, poetry, and musings!
#minihorse
#poetry
Please follow for more animals, poetry, and musings!
#minihorse
#poetry
Reposted by Chera Hammons
Lab-kept bumble bees roll small wooden balls around for no apparent purpose other than fun, a 2022 study reveals.
Learn more on #WorldBeeDay: scim.ag/4dAwCuD
Learn more on #WorldBeeDay: scim.ag/4dAwCuD
May 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Lab-kept bumble bees roll small wooden balls around for no apparent purpose other than fun, a 2022 study reveals.
Learn more on #WorldBeeDay: scim.ag/4dAwCuD
Learn more on #WorldBeeDay: scim.ag/4dAwCuD
When you read, do you experience colors?
This week's post at The Hurt and the Miracle is a look at grapheme-color synesthesia. cherahammons.substack.com/p/reading-po...
This week's post at The Hurt and the Miracle is a look at grapheme-color synesthesia. cherahammons.substack.com/p/reading-po...
May 17, 2025 at 3:37 PM
When you read, do you experience colors?
This week's post at The Hurt and the Miracle is a look at grapheme-color synesthesia. cherahammons.substack.com/p/reading-po...
This week's post at The Hurt and the Miracle is a look at grapheme-color synesthesia. cherahammons.substack.com/p/reading-po...
Lines from the poem "Falconry," which is from my 2017 collection The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
"The tree speaks of its burdens in the winter,
but tries to keep secrets now."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
"The tree speaks of its burdens in the winter,
but tries to keep secrets now."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
May 6, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Lines from the poem "Falconry," which is from my 2017 collection The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City.
"The tree speaks of its burdens in the winter,
but tries to keep secrets now."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
"The tree speaks of its burdens in the winter,
but tries to keep secrets now."
Please follow for more poetry. Thank you!
Reposted by Chera Hammons
Lines from "Tornado Alley," first published in Rattle.
"The storm will pass soon, the worst ones wear themselves out fast with their violence,
and the morning will sparkle with dew and bent metal.
The roots of the trees holding the sky like something they'd hoped for."
"The storm will pass soon, the worst ones wear themselves out fast with their violence,
and the morning will sparkle with dew and bent metal.
The roots of the trees holding the sky like something they'd hoped for."
April 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Lines from "Tornado Alley," first published in Rattle.
"The storm will pass soon, the worst ones wear themselves out fast with their violence,
and the morning will sparkle with dew and bent metal.
The roots of the trees holding the sky like something they'd hoped for."
"The storm will pass soon, the worst ones wear themselves out fast with their violence,
and the morning will sparkle with dew and bent metal.
The roots of the trees holding the sky like something they'd hoped for."
Reposted by Chera Hammons
Rebellions are built on hope.
March 24, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Rebellions are built on hope.
Throwback to when pronghorns lived down the street from me. Now there's a neighborhood of giant, bland houses there. I greatly preferred the antelope.
March 23, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Throwback to when pronghorns lived down the street from me. Now there's a neighborhood of giant, bland houses there. I greatly preferred the antelope.
New newsletter out today! Featuring my poem "Daylight Saving."
cherahammons.substack.com/p/the-hours-...
cherahammons.substack.com/p/the-hours-...
The Hours We Save
I want to lose track of time. I want the honesty of night falling when it falls.
cherahammons.substack.com
March 7, 2025 at 5:23 PM
New newsletter out today! Featuring my poem "Daylight Saving."
cherahammons.substack.com/p/the-hours-...
cherahammons.substack.com/p/the-hours-...
I need to be spending more time here! I'll try to do better. This is my poem "The Fall of Rome," which was first published by Diode and will be included in the book Salvage List, forthcoming this summer from Belle Point Press.
February 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I need to be spending more time here! I'll try to do better. This is my poem "The Fall of Rome," which was first published by Diode and will be included in the book Salvage List, forthcoming this summer from Belle Point Press.
These are lines from my poem "When the Cottontail Doesn't Return," first published by The Southern Review.
Please follow for more poetry!
Please follow for more poetry!
October 26, 2024 at 3:02 PM
These are lines from my poem "When the Cottontail Doesn't Return," first published by The Southern Review.
Please follow for more poetry!
Please follow for more poetry!