Grown Ocean

"THIS WORLD IS CRUEL TO THOSE WHO

INSIST UPON STAYING OPEN TO IT.

MATT MITCHELL, THE POEMS IN GROWN OCEAN

SHOW US AGAIN AND AGAIN, 

IS ONE SUCH SOUL-

EVERYWHERE IS AN OCCASION

FOR GRATITUDE AND AWE,

FROM BUFFALO NICKELS TO COHABITATION

TO MEAT LOAF TO ASTRONOMY

TO COKE ZERO TO, YES, LOVE. 

AND THAT IS HARD, RETAINING

SUCH A PERMEABILITY TO TENDERNESS

IN A CULTURE, A NATION, THAT CONSPIRES

SO RELENTLESSLY AGAINST IT.

IT'S GOOD AND NOTABLE WORK,

THE LOVING THESE POEMS TAKE UP.

AND THEY'RE VERY GOOD POEMS."

-KAVEH AKBAR, AUTHOR OF PILGRIM BELL

Matt Mitchell is an intersex writer living in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote The Neon Hollywood Cowboy (Big Lucks, 2021) and tweets @matt_mitchell48.