Tremendous thanks to the editors at Does It Have Pockets for publishing four of my poems in their May issue from my most recent book A Godless Ascends, including: “Aftermath: ~48 Hours,” “Intensive Care,” “To My Unconscious Son,” and ” “Back to Life.” These four poems are from the fourth section of the book dedicated to my son and are poems of recovery. It’s important to me that these personal poems are out in the world.  Many of you know that in 2015 my son (21 at the time) was in a horrible accident in which he was hit on his bicycle by someone in a pickup truck in downtown Salt Lake City. He nearly lost his life. Recovery was difficult, but he made it through and I’m grateful every day that he is still the same amazing, creative person he was before the accident.

Click here to read all four poems.

Does It Have Pockets is an online literary magazine with an emphasis on the uncatagorizable. Scifi poetry? Memoir as instruction manual? Fiction as recipe? If you’ve ever been told, “I love this, but I don’t know where to put it,” try sending in your work. They do charge a small submission fee, but have offered free submission months in the past, and they are a paying market! Follow them on social media (Facebook Twitter Instagram) to make sure not to miss those opportunities. They are also currently running a flash fiction contest with a reasonable entry fee based on the prizes. Per their About page, “A note on our name: A question became a metaphor for what we carry into our lives and stories. Around here, pockets aren’t sewn shut for a good silhouette. We welcome your pockets: large, small, messy, empty, and frayed.”

You can order A Godless Ascends:

• Direct from Lithic Press (free shipping);
• or if you’d like a signed copy with a bookmark, contact me here.

“Like the screech owl, Trish Hopkinson’s work hardens itself in order to keep its insides soft. There’s a Plathian urgency to these poems, reminding us that memory has taste buds, ancestry is complicated and life, like poetry, is grounded in physicality.” –Wendy Videlock, author of Wise to the West

Additional sample poems:

• Nocturne to Uterus – The Gravity of the Thing
• Uprooted – Cultural Daily, finalist for the 2021 Jack Grape Poetry Prize
• Dragonfly Daughter – Literary Mama (+Pushcart prize nomination)
• Resurrection Party – Voicemail Poems

If you’re interested in attending a reading, I’ll be featuring at several events in Colorado, Utah, and virtually. For information on upcoming events, see my Reading & Events page. I’ll update it as more events are scheduled.

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