HALSEY Literary Reader
@halseyreader.bsky.social
A semi-regular collection of words and pictures, HALSEY focuses on the art and science of living and what it means to be human: 30 poems, 10 photos, and 2 essays in every issue https://www.rockwoodpress.com/halsey
8
I want to love you
before they announce a fascist decree
to close all the gardens of love
And I want to drink coffee with you
before they confiscate the coffee and the cups
And I want to sit with you for two minutes
before the secret service pulls the chairs from under us
I want to love you
before they announce a fascist decree
to close all the gardens of love
And I want to drink coffee with you
before they confiscate the coffee and the cups
And I want to sit with you for two minutes
before the secret service pulls the chairs from under us
January 17, 2026 at 1:07 AM
8
I want to love you
before they announce a fascist decree
to close all the gardens of love
And I want to drink coffee with you
before they confiscate the coffee and the cups
And I want to sit with you for two minutes
before the secret service pulls the chairs from under us
I want to love you
before they announce a fascist decree
to close all the gardens of love
And I want to drink coffee with you
before they confiscate the coffee and the cups
And I want to sit with you for two minutes
before the secret service pulls the chairs from under us
7
I want to love you
before they capture the last free gazelle
and the last love letter
and before the last Arabic poem
is hung
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
I want to love you
before they capture the last free gazelle
and the last love letter
and before the last Arabic poem
is hung
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
January 16, 2026 at 11:48 PM
7
I want to love you
before they capture the last free gazelle
and the last love letter
and before the last Arabic poem
is hung
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
I want to love you
before they capture the last free gazelle
and the last love letter
and before the last Arabic poem
is hung
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
Yes, literally.
Abolish the Border, Abolish the Police Reading List
In solidarity with all those standing up for our communities against the brutality of immigrant detention and police repression, we offer an extensive reading list about border and police ab...
www.haymarketbooks.org
January 16, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Yes, literally.
6
My lady, I want to love you
in the time
of handicapped love
and handicapped language
and handicapped poetry books
when neither the trees can stand
nor the birds can use their wings
nor the stars can move around
without needing a visa
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani
My lady, I want to love you
in the time
of handicapped love
and handicapped language
and handicapped poetry books
when neither the trees can stand
nor the birds can use their wings
nor the stars can move around
without needing a visa
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani
January 16, 2026 at 10:32 PM
6
My lady, I want to love you
in the time
of handicapped love
and handicapped language
and handicapped poetry books
when neither the trees can stand
nor the birds can use their wings
nor the stars can move around
without needing a visa
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani
My lady, I want to love you
in the time
of handicapped love
and handicapped language
and handicapped poetry books
when neither the trees can stand
nor the birds can use their wings
nor the stars can move around
without needing a visa
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani
5
I want to love you
to retrieve the details of our Damascene house
each room
each tile
each pigeon;
to converse with the Arabian Jasmine
my mother used to behold every morning
like a jeweler would show off his jewels
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar
I want to love you
to retrieve the details of our Damascene house
each room
each tile
each pigeon;
to converse with the Arabian Jasmine
my mother used to behold every morning
like a jeweler would show off his jewels
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar
January 16, 2026 at 9:17 PM
5
I want to love you
to retrieve the details of our Damascene house
each room
each tile
each pigeon;
to converse with the Arabian Jasmine
my mother used to behold every morning
like a jeweler would show off his jewels
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar
I want to love you
to retrieve the details of our Damascene house
each room
each tile
each pigeon;
to converse with the Arabian Jasmine
my mother used to behold every morning
like a jeweler would show off his jewels
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
NEPC Member Mary Warren Foulk published The Show Must Go On from Fernwood Press in July 2025! NEPC Member Mary Warren Foulk will read with Straw Dog Writers Guild members on Jan 31, 2026, at 4 PM ET. See the attached flyer! Get a copy of the book here: https://loom.ly/KLQfp_8
January 16, 2026 at 2:39 PM
NEPC Member Mary Warren Foulk published The Show Must Go On from Fernwood Press in July 2025! NEPC Member Mary Warren Foulk will read with Straw Dog Writers Guild members on Jan 31, 2026, at 4 PM ET. See the attached flyer! Get a copy of the book here: https://loom.ly/KLQfp_8
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
I'm very pleased to provide an update with regard to my next chapbook, 'This Rough Magic', to be published by Rockwood Press, Q1, 2026 (52 pp.). The collection is about memory, aging, loss and grief, and is dedicated to my father, Ivan X. deSouza, who passed last October. Thank you editor Eric Muhr!
January 16, 2026 at 6:19 PM
I'm very pleased to provide an update with regard to my next chapbook, 'This Rough Magic', to be published by Rockwood Press, Q1, 2026 (52 pp.). The collection is about memory, aging, loss and grief, and is dedicated to my father, Ivan X. deSouza, who passed last October. Thank you editor Eric Muhr!
My parents raised me a 4, but a series of life lessons in my mid-30s turned me into a 5
January 16, 2026 at 8:14 PM
My parents raised me a 4, but a series of life lessons in my mid-30s turned me into a 5
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
Super interesting piece on "involuntary parks" by Annelise Giseburt. 🧪 From the Hanford Reach National Monument to the Zone Rouge, land polluted by explosives, toxic chemicals, or radioactive waste now serves as a refuge for wildlife - kind of. Giseburt explores the uncertain futures of these parks.
Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife
Few locations on Earth are as haunting or deeply ironic as so-called involuntary parks — places too toxic, dangerous, or otherwise made off-limits for human habitation, but which have paradoxically an...
news.mongabay.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Super interesting piece on "involuntary parks" by Annelise Giseburt. 🧪 From the Hanford Reach National Monument to the Zone Rouge, land polluted by explosives, toxic chemicals, or radioactive waste now serves as a refuge for wildlife - kind of. Giseburt explores the uncertain futures of these parks.
4
I want to love you
to banish my dryness
and saltiness
and the calcifications of my fingers;
to regain my springs
and my wheat stalks
and my colorful butterflies
and assure myself
that I can still cry
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
I want to love you
to banish my dryness
and saltiness
and the calcifications of my fingers;
to regain my springs
and my wheat stalks
and my colorful butterflies
and assure myself
that I can still cry
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
January 16, 2026 at 8:00 PM
4
I want to love you
to banish my dryness
and saltiness
and the calcifications of my fingers;
to regain my springs
and my wheat stalks
and my colorful butterflies
and assure myself
that I can still cry
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
I want to love you
to banish my dryness
and saltiness
and the calcifications of my fingers;
to regain my springs
and my wheat stalks
and my colorful butterflies
and assure myself
that I can still cry
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
3
I want to love you
to assure myself
that the palm trees in your eyes
are still okay
and the birds’ nests in between your breasts
are still okay
and the fishes of poetry that swim in my blood
are still okay
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love & Resistance
I want to love you
to assure myself
that the palm trees in your eyes
are still okay
and the birds’ nests in between your breasts
are still okay
and the fishes of poetry that swim in my blood
are still okay
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love & Resistance
January 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
3
I want to love you
to assure myself
that the palm trees in your eyes
are still okay
and the birds’ nests in between your breasts
are still okay
and the fishes of poetry that swim in my blood
are still okay
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love & Resistance
I want to love you
to assure myself
that the palm trees in your eyes
are still okay
and the birds’ nests in between your breasts
are still okay
and the fishes of poetry that swim in my blood
are still okay
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love & Resistance
2
To enter the religion of Jasmine
and defend the civilization of poetry
To guarantee the blueness of the sea
and the greenness of the forests
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
To enter the religion of Jasmine
and defend the civilization of poetry
To guarantee the blueness of the sea
and the greenness of the forests
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
January 16, 2026 at 5:30 PM
2
To enter the religion of Jasmine
and defend the civilization of poetry
To guarantee the blueness of the sea
and the greenness of the forests
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
To enter the religion of Jasmine
and defend the civilization of poetry
To guarantee the blueness of the sea
and the greenness of the forests
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
1
I love you to lift up the sky
to regain my wellbeing
and the wellbeing of my words
and to free myself of the pollution
that strangles my heart
For Earth without you
is a big lie—
a rotten apple
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
I love you to lift up the sky
to regain my wellbeing
and the wellbeing of my words
and to free myself of the pollution
that strangles my heart
For Earth without you
is a big lie—
a rotten apple
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
January 16, 2026 at 4:15 PM
1
I love you to lift up the sky
to regain my wellbeing
and the wellbeing of my words
and to free myself of the pollution
that strangles my heart
For Earth without you
is a big lie—
a rotten apple
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
I love you to lift up the sky
to regain my wellbeing
and the wellbeing of my words
and to free myself of the pollution
that strangles my heart
For Earth without you
is a big lie—
a rotten apple
from "I Love You to Lift Up the Sky" by Nizar Qabbani, trans. Rana Bitar, Love and Resistance
Great thread. Also, indirectly makes the point that government exists to keep people safe. The majority of incorporated community governments in the US initially came into being as a way for folks to collectively manage sewage.
2/🧵 So. White people started building cities like millenia before they thought of sewers. Which meant, for thousands of years their drinking water was contaminated with the waste of themselves & their neighbors. So they got sick A LOT.
The way to avoid being sick ALL THE TIME was homebrewed: beer.
The way to avoid being sick ALL THE TIME was homebrewed: beer.
January 16, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Great thread. Also, indirectly makes the point that government exists to keep people safe. The majority of incorporated community governments in the US initially came into being as a way for folks to collectively manage sewage.
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
Murder. And not just the one who pulled the trigger.
Holy shit.
Renee Good was alive when the bystander physician asked to check her pulse. She was alive when ICE refused to let him help. She was alive when they told him “I don’t care.”
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Renee Good was alive when the bystander physician asked to check her pulse. She was alive when ICE refused to let him help. She was alive when they told him “I don’t care.”
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Live Updates: Newly Released Records Detail Chaos During Fatal ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Murder. And not just the one who pulled the trigger.
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
This is beyond infuriating.
January 16, 2026 at 2:18 PM
This is beyond infuriating.
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
So glad it’s Friday.
January 16, 2026 at 2:19 PM
So glad it’s Friday.
It's in the 13th paragraph (unfortunately), but we implemented a hybrid office in March 2020 and now only have 4 staff who use the space, allowing us to increase staff AND cut our budget. Doing what's good for the environment is good for people and great for bottom lines.
January 16, 2026 at 2:19 PM
It's in the 13th paragraph (unfortunately), but we implemented a hybrid office in March 2020 and now only have 4 staff who use the space, allowing us to increase staff AND cut our budget. Doing what's good for the environment is good for people and great for bottom lines.
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
January 16, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by HALSEY Literary Reader
As much as I love Starter Packs, long before those, Bluesky had Lists. I started one on #litmags and continue to add to it periodically. You can pin a list (even mine) and see what gets posted by member accounts. Just added @halseyreader.bsky.social today. bsky.app/profile/did:...
January 16, 2026 at 2:02 PM
As much as I love Starter Packs, long before those, Bluesky had Lists. I started one on #litmags and continue to add to it periodically. You can pin a list (even mine) and see what gets posted by member accounts. Just added @halseyreader.bsky.social today. bsky.app/profile/did:...
Participants were asked to take pictures of the harbor. After the activity, those who took part were more supportive of conservation efforts. Suggests huge potential for long-term benefits of outdoor education and engaging more folks in the arts.
Picturing place: Using creative photography to explore community perception and connection to Hamilton Harbour
#GreatLakes 🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#GreatLakes 🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Picturing place: Using creative photography to explore community perception and connection to Hamilton harbour
Effective public engagement is essential for successful environmental remediation efforts, yet traditional public engagement strategies focused solely…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Participants were asked to take pictures of the harbor. After the activity, those who took part were more supportive of conservation efforts. Suggests huge potential for long-term benefits of outdoor education and engaging more folks in the arts.
"Be willing to write words you won’t end up using in order to get to the words you will"
How I revised, A Writer’s Craft
Now that the second edition of A Writer's Craft has been sent to my editor at Bloomsbury, I reflect on the semester-long process of revising.
Now that the second edition of A Writer's Craft has been sent to my editor at Bloomsbury, I reflect on the semester-long process of revising.
How I revised, A Writer’s Craft
Now that the second edition of A Writer's Craft has been sent to my editor at Bloomsbury, I reflect on the semester-long process of revising.
kendalldunkelberg.com
January 16, 2026 at 1:58 PM
"Be willing to write words you won’t end up using in order to get to the words you will"
"When its first fragments arrive in your head like benevolent shrapnel, they demand to be assembled"
I am crying because for some reason I just went to read Clive James's last poem again.
Anyhow, how's your Friday?
www.clivejames.com/sentenced-to...
Anyhow, how's your Friday?
www.clivejames.com/sentenced-to...
Sentenced to Life
Home >> Poetry >> Poetry Collections >>Sentenced to Life
www.clivejames.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:57 PM
"When its first fragments arrive in your head like benevolent shrapnel, they demand to be assembled"