Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 2d

The patient wading of the blue heron. Stillness made visible.

Honored to have Blue Heron appear in Humana Obscura, Issue 14. Deep thanks to Leslie Waugh for the stunning photograph that walks beside the poem. You can now read it on my Substack. ☺️

Blue Heron

Learning the grace of what comes or what does not

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 3d

Thrilled and deeply humbled to share that my poem has been longlisted for the Bournemouth Writing Prize by The Bournemouth Journal @bournemouthjournal.bsky.social ! Huge thanks to the amazing editors for this incredible honor. Feeling inspired and grateful! #bournemouthwritingfest

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 5d

My poem, 'The Day My Father Ran Barefoot at the Dog,' was just published in Unbroken #47. A special thanks to the editorial team.
www.theunjournals.com/unbroken47

Unbroken | Issue 46 | Summer 2025

Prose poems for y'all.

www.theunjournals.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 9d

Excited to share that my poem is out in the Fall ’25 issue of @Songs of Eretz (theme: Digging). Huge thanks to the editors for including it. Think sea turtles, moonlight, memory, and the kind of knowing that runs deeper than thought. You can now read it on my Substack.

The Body Recalls What the Mind Lets Slip

A poem about return, memory, and the pull of what we can’t name

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 14d

Thankful that @doorisajarmag.bsky.social recently accepted 4 of my poems, "Cicadas," "The Knowing of My Name," "Arrival," and "A Light That Remembers,” which will be included in their Winter 2025 issue.

2 6

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 14d

My latest poem, Beyond the Veil, first published in Bainbridge Island Press, POETICS: Corvids, now available on my Substack.

Peculiar Julia @peculiarjulia.bsky.social · 15d

"This morning, a single crow landed
on the fence post, not cawing, not watching,
just there, as if it had always known
the quiet I carry..."
Beyond the Veil by @samaureli.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/samaurel...

Beyond the Veil

A Messenger Between Worlds

open.substack.com

1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 14d

I was about to share the poem on Bluesky and saw you already did! Thank you. 😊

1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 23d

My father’s office was always off-limits, a sanctuary, and a mess. After he passed, I was finally allowed in. This poem came from the quiet hours of sifting through his papers, trying to understand a man who will always remain partly a mystery.

The Weight of His Chair

Shortlisted in The Good Life Review 2025 HoneyBee Prize

open.substack.com

1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 24d

My father’s office was always off-limits—a sanctuary, and a mess. After he passed, I was finally allowed in. This poem came from the quiet hours of sifting through his papers, trying to understand a man who will always remain partly a mystery.

The Weight of His Chair

Shortlisted in The Good Life Review 2025 HoneyBee Prize

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · 28d

Thank you for having me!

1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Sep 6

In the rings of a tree, we read time; in their absence, we feel the weight of our unmaking: a poem about trees, silence, and loss. Thankful to the editors of @thomasonianmag.bsky.social for publishing my poem, 'What We've Unmade,' in their inaugural issue.

What We've Unmade

A poem about trees, silence, and loss

open.substack.com

1 1 1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Sep 2

Coming soon! Three of my poems will be included in Issue 05. ☺️

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 31

She’s been sitting like this for several minutes, just staring at me, completely still. When she’s actually stuck, she yowls to let me know. This silence? Definitely plotting my demise.

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 31

Though not quite fitting for the current season, I wrote this poem a year ago and submitted it to literary journals. It was accepted in January 2025, and after patiently awaiting publication, the journal issue is finally out. I'm excited to share it with you now.

The Last Leaf

Witness to a season slipping away

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 31

An editor suggested cutting the last third of a poem since it doesn’t add much substance or new insight. My heart is racing at the thought. It’s a large chunk! Yet, after reading it several times in that new light, I have to agree. Still, hitting delete feels like losing a piece of my soul.

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 29

Honored to be named an International Merit Award winner in the Atlanta Review 2025 International Poetry Competition! While not a prize winner, I’m grateful for the recognition. The submitted poems will appear in my forthcoming collection, out Spring 2026. More to come on that!😊

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 28

I forgot about this photo. I’m looking forward to this long weekend, to find a quiet spot and listen to what the birds and the rustling leaves have to say.

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 27

Another gorgeous Boston morning. As I gear up for the work grind, I'm reminded of my poem, 'Morning Song,' recently published in @everscribemag.bsky.social . Wherever you are, whatever you're facing, pause to breathe. Sometimes, that's enough.

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 26

New on Field Notes: Courage in Transformation.
Sometimes courage isn’t about overcoming. It’s about staying. Staying with the grief, the not-knowing, the places we can’t control. Walk with me in my backyard, where a patch of wildness opens into something deeper, guided by the words of Michael Tobin.

Field Notes: Courage in Transformation

August 2025

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 22

I wrote this after I dug through some Rubbermaid bins I’d kept in storage and moved into the new home. You forget what you put in them, and sometimes, that’s a good thing.

I am also thankful to @alienbuddhapress.bsky.social for including this poem in their print anthology about love.

Words We Let Slip Into the Depths

And the quiet erosion of time

open.substack.com

1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 20

Come visit me on Substack, and read my poem, Morning Song, an ode to the rising sun.

Morning Song

After “Prelude in Grey Major” by Christian Wiman

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 18

No common fleabane, but plenty of goldenrod in the backyard.

1 1

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 17

The garden cosmos are beginning to bloom.

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 17

The world will tell you to go numb. Don’t. Choose tenderness. It’s the braver act.

Thankful to the editors at The Berlin Review ‪‪@theberlinreview.bsky.social‬‬ for publishing my poem.

open.substack.com/pub/samaurel...

A Way of Staying Soft

Choosing tenderness in a world that asks for numbness

open.substack.com

Sam Aureli @samaureli.bsky.social · Aug 16

Our Saturday morning routine. She wakes me up at 5am. She wants outside, so outside we go. I read and write. She finds another place to snooze.