Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Han VanderHart @hanvanderhart.bsky.social · 1h

A poem is a place where the conditions of beyondness and withinness are made palpable, where to imagine is to feel what it is like to be. It allows us to have the life we are denied because we are too busy living.

Mark Strand

xxiu • On Becoming a Poet
ever their subject happens to be. They have a voice, and the formation of that voice, the gathering up of imagined sound into utter-ance, may be the true occasion for their existence. A poem may be the residue of an inner urgency, one through which the self wishes to register itself, write itself into being, and, finally, to charm another self, the reader, into belief. It may also be something equally elusive-the ghost within every experience that wishes it could be seen or felt, acknowledged as a kind of meaning.
It could be a truth so forgiving that it offers up, a humanness in which we are able to imagine ourselves. A poem is a place where the conditions of beyondness and withinness are made palpable, where to imagine is to feel what it is like to be. It allows us to have the life we are denied because we are too busy living. Even more paradoxi-cally, a poem permits us to live in ourselves as if we were just out of reach of ourselves.

Mark Strand, from The Making of the Poem

6 24

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Nov 13

if i've learned one thing from doing union stuff while also doing other forms of organizing, it's that you're better off with people you disagree with who are nevertheless trying to do the same thing as you than with people you agree with who aren't trying to do anything

63 1.4K 5.7K

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 2h

Here’s the map for the swallow. Each dot represents a bird, and each line links the places where they were found.

A map of Europe and Africa, with multicoloured dots, and connecting lines leading roughly north to south.

5 23 51

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 2h

I am once again asking you to read this essay by Amber Fox, published in @reckoningmag.bsky.social in 2022. reckoning.press/ghost-of-a-c...

4 5

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 2h

The magazine I edit for ran an incredible personal essay about this, by Amber Fox, in 2022. reckoning.press/ghost-of-a-c...

Ghost of a Chance: A Trans Girl Tries to Live | Reckoning

I am a ghost. I don’t know if I was born this way, if I died when I was small, or if it happened later . . . . For a long time, those questions were important to me. But ghosts like me have existed in...

reckoning.press

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

The Shore @theshorepoetry.bsky.social · 3h

“In the roof religion, we were the first god: asphalt & ammonia
our frankincense, carpenter's pants splattered
white (constellations) & tar-kneed…”

From “In the roof religion where rain is a trial & the thatch all prays” by David Eileen in ISSUE 27!

David Eileen "In the Roof Religion Where Rain Is a Trial & the Thatch All Prays" — THE SHORE

POETRY

www.theshorepoetry.org

1 2

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Tade Thompson @tadethompson.bsky.social · Aug 13

We are not trivialising LLMs.

Copyright theft is not trivial.

Environmental damage is not trivial.

Unreliability is not trivial.

Risk to human cognition is not trivial.

Ignoring consent when shoving it into every fucking thing while making us pay our hard-earned money for it is not trivial.

5 420 970

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

soft, black underbelly @upfromsumdirt.bsky.social · 9d

16 various titles for October, Black Speculative Fiction Month

#BlackSpeculativeFictionMonth —

photo of 16 books by black authors spread across the yellow blanket on our bed in a 4 x 4 grid of books —

wizard of the crow by ngūgī wa thiong'o; unshod, cackling, and naked by tamika thompson; shigidi and the brass head of obalufon by wole talibi; none but the righteous by chantal james; the ballad of perilous graves by alex jennings; rosewater by tade thompson; out there screaming (horror anthology) edited by jordan peele; my life in the bush of ghosts by amos tutuola; skin folk by nalo hopkinson; black leopard, red wolf by marlon james; dhalgren by samuel r. delany; the ballad of black tom by victor lavalle; nigerians in space by deji bryce olukotun; how long 'til black future month? by n.k. jemisin; black sci-fi short stories (gothic fantasy) edited by tia ross; and everfair by nisi shawl.

3 22 53

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Its ruaa @itsmeio.bsky.social · 20h

I might disappear for a while I’m suffering from severe, crushing depression.
I’am so so so sorry but my family is still lying in the street, in the freezing October cold.
Don’t forget them in your donations they have no one but you. Good bye

Its ruaa @itsmeio.bsky.social · Sep 6

We are in urgent need of protection and a safe place to live. We’re raising support to help us escape danger and rebuild our lives in safety. Every contribution, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to security and hope. 💛
kindly give :
#BringRuaaHome #SafetyForRuaa #HumanitarianAid

Project Bring Ruaa and Her Family to Safety

I'm helping my friend, Ruaa Naji, raise funds to help her family survive.

chuffed.org

9 110 110

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

mosh pit daria @gr8earlofhell.bsky.social · 18h

my poem co-authored with @lowermelody.bsky.social was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by @genrepunkmag.bsky.social

genrepunkmag.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/a...

air – nat raum & D.W. Baker

airDownload nat raum is a disabled artist, writer, and genderless disaster based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They’re the editor-in-chief of fifth wheel press. Their w…

genrepunkmag.wordpress.com

2 9

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 1d

you will doubtless be delighted to learn that the Le Guin goat-calling charm from a Wizard of Earthsea ("Noth hierth malk man/hiolk han merth han!" may be a livestock counting-rhyme.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_tan...

Yan tan tethera - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2 4 23

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

NAWP @notatawp.bsky.social · 1d

In this wild and woolly world, listening to some poems can only help. See you on Tuesday? NAWP!

NAWP @notatawp.bsky.social · 21d

Announcement time! October 14th, 7:00 Eastern: Hear poems from @clbpoetry.bsky.social, @mitchnobis.bsky.social, and @djvorreyer.bsky.social! Hosted by the amazing @readinstead.bsky.social!

Hit the eventbrite link to register. NAWP!

www.eventbrite.com/e/a-nawp-rea...

Promo graphic with author photos of Donna Vorreyer, Chris Butler, and Mitchell Nobis. And the NAWP ostrich, of course.
The text says:
A NAWP Reading
Chris L. Butler
Mitch Nobis
Donna Vorreyer
Hosted by
Jared Beloff
October 14, 2025
7:00-8:00PM EST

5 10

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 20h

"A Tinderbox Itself Is Innocent," from _Dogwitch_, up at the Wardrobe c/o the Sundress Blog today.

sundressblog.com/2025/10/10/t...

The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Dogwitch by Catherine Rockwood - The Sundress Blog

This selection, chosen by guest editor nat raum, is from Dogwitch by Catherine Rockwood (Bottlecap Press, 2025). A Tinderbox Itself Is Innocent Last night my husband dreameda long fenced-in yard. At t...

sundressblog.com

2 1 4

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Blade Wielding Bisexual (Lordean arc) @shengokai.blacksky.app · 22h

Since Link is banned, his mutual aid Fridays have gone with him. This was one of the most altruistic things I’ve seen anyone on this site do.

In light of this, I’m gonna try to fill the gap.

Drop your mutual aid requests under this thread and I will repost them for as long as I can.

160 1.2K 1.8K

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 1d

They are not planning "a violent crackdown" on 10.18. What they are doing is sending a signal to their shock troops to try to cause havoc. But those shock troops will be vastly outnumbered. Go out and protest freely. Do not be cowed.

23 1.2K 3.8K

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

lacey @byelacey.bsky.social · 1d

it's that time of year, it's time to get your flu and covid booster shot unless you're from massachusetts then it's time for your flu and covid borcester shot

17 280 790

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Tracy O’Connell Novick @tracynovick.bsky.social · 1d

I am not voting for anyone for Governor of Massachusetts whose response to the detentions of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva and of Rümeysa Öztürk is "the government didn't execute well"

Just to be clear

1 9 50

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 1d

what I'm saying is, _I_ think it is a livestock counting-rhyme that Le Guin made up, in Gontish or some earlier speculative variant of that speculative language. and I think she made it up that way because she was a complete _nutter_ (strongly complimentary).

1 3

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 1d

you will doubtless be delighted to learn that the Le Guin goat-calling charm from a Wizard of Earthsea ("Noth hierth malk man/hiolk han merth han!" may be a livestock counting-rhyme.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_tan...

Yan tan tethera - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2 4 23

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Immigrant Nobel Prize winners exiting the United States

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 1d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

48 850 3K

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Joe Kassabian @jkass99.bsky.social · 1d

Because when you burn down a house and nobody ever rebuilds it, someone is still forced to live in the ashes

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

Thatcher was born 100 years ago and her reign feels a lifetime away. Why is her effect on the country still so huge? | Martin Kettle

Today’s politicians need to learn that she is not the answer to contemporary problems, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

www.theguardian.com

9 210 740

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 1d

Jane Eyre, sometime around junior year of HS, early 1990s.

Catherine Rockwood @martin65.bsky.social · 1d

"bedspread" is country?
...welp.

16

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

Meg Trevey @megglin.bsky.social · 1d

I know I shared this yesterday, but I cannot stop thinking about this piece, especially this part:

"I thought I was the hopelessly broken one. But I was a fire alarm among people who couldn't smell smoke...

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 3d

"There just isn’t enough time. There’s only what we manage to make of it—what we build, what we protect, what we remember to carry to the car. The gas mask. The snacks. The question we forgot to ask. The name of the person taken." My latest.

The Emergency Is the Atmosphere

“It’s meant to exhaust us. It’s meant to destroy us."

organizingmythoughts.org

2 15 70

Reposted by Catherine Rockwood

this corrosion says unban Łink @roguesecunit.bsky.social · 1d

Sending love and strength to Chicago every day.

Wherever you live, get ready. Boston/Mass, if you're not LUCE trained yet, you should be: go to the link below and click the "ICE Watch Interest Form" button.

www.lucemass.org

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 1d

As y'all have probably heard, there has been a lot of ICE activity on the North Side of Chicago today. At least four people were kidnapped by ICE in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Folks mobilized throughout the day to do ICE Watch and Rapid Response work.

1 11 13