The poems for my spring editorship with Rebecca Kamen, on science and poetry, or neuropoetics, have been coming out via email and on the Poetry Foundation’s website, thick and fast. Too many to list, that we chose, have been shared, but below, some highlights/ Poe, Ponge, Stevenson, Gander, Sikelianos, Dungy, Miroslav Holub, Alexander and special to me, my mentor, Tom Raworth. Each came with a short editorial note, some of which are below
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54722/errory A Note from the Editor SJF: “Raworth is almost describing impressions of discovery, of universes in language as sanguine as they are rapid.” RK: “Being dyslexic, words on a page are not my primary means for navigating the world. My neurodiversity was a catalyst for becoming a visual artist. As an artist, exploration of complexity systems at the micro and macro level is why I am drawn to this poem, the complex weaving of words creating a linear layering of thoughts feels like a stream of consciousness made visible.”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47004/above-the-human-nerve-domain A Note from the Editor With extraordinary virtuosity and vocabulary, Alexander is almost at some sort of molecular consciousness. Experiencing Alexander’s poem is like standing in front of a Cabinet of Curiosities. His woven words and phrases morph into a rich, visual tapestry, creating new relationships of complexity and forms. - Guest Editors S.J. Fowler and Rebecca Kamen.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48625/sonnet-to-science A note from the editor: Poe’s sonnet captures the beauty and mystery of the gifts that science continues to reveal, even if steeped in the 19th century’s grandiose and melodramatic language. Poe is also the author of “Eureka,” arguably the ultimate science poem and a foundational prose poem to boot. Poe’s words describe the process of science to alter and inspire, and we feel underneath the flowery phrases something akin to awe, and inevitably, fear. - Guest Editors S.J. Fowler and Rebecca Kamen.
Miroslav Holub https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51048/wings-56d22e8a4d747
Francis Ponge https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/50909/the-trees-delete-themselves-inside-a-fog-sphere
Eleni Sikelianos https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/145220/your-kingdom
Forrest Gander https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55965/ligature-4