Poets on the Plains Season Two

Hi, this is Janice Northerns, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas, for Poets on the Plains. Today, I’d like to share a poem by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, who served as the Kansas Poet Laureate from 2009-13. Caryn is the author of 24 books, as well asa writing workshop facilitator and writing coach. The poem I’m reading today is Magnolia Tree in Kansas which is from her 2020 book, How Time Moves: New & Selected Poems.

Hi. I’m Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, here for Poets on the Plains. Coffee’s on the table and I’m sharing a poem with you by another Panhandle poet, Chera Hammons from Amarillo, whose work is well-published and recognized with a PEN Texas Southwest Book Award in Poetry and the Texas Institute of Letters–Helen C. Smith Memorial Award.

Hello, I’m former Oklahoma Poet Laureate Benjamin Myers, and I would like to share with you a poem by Jim Burrows. Jim Burrows is a poet and real estate appraiser based in Stillwater, Oklahoma, but born and raised in Cordell. He is the author of the 2015 poetry collection Back Road. His poems have appeared in Rattle, The Southwest Review, The Dark Horse, Oklahoma Today, PN Review, and many other journals.

Hello, I’m Juan J. Morales, an assistant professor of English at Colorado College and a poet in Pueblo, Colorado, here for Poets on the Plains. Today I’m pleased to share with you a poem by Denver poet, Emily Pérez, titled I Wanted a Full Dose of Never-Mind of Not Ever.

My name is Jewell Rodgers and I am the State Poet of Nebraska.Today we are hearing from Angélica Perez. Angélica is a Core Teaching Artist with the Nebraska Writers Collective, where she supports Teaching Artists and young poets, helps to run monthly open mics and slams in Omaha, and leads poetry workshops with incarcerated people throughout Nebraska.

Hi, This is Janice Northerns, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas, for Poets on the Plains. Today, I’ll be sharing a poem by a writer whose work I’ve long admired, Steve Brisendine. Steve lives in Mission, Kansas, but he grew up in Liberal, where I spent a quarter of a century. We both worked for the local newspaper there, though not at the same time..

Welcome to Poets on the Plains. I'm Allison Hedge Coke, a poet writer born in the Texas Panhandle coming to you via cell phone from Nikšić, Montenegro. My latest book is Look at This Blue. I'm also the author of Streaming, Burn -- written during the fires at Marfa -- Blood Run, Off-season City Pipe and some other books.

Hi, I’m Benjamin Myers for “Poets on the Plains.” Today I’m going to share with you one of my own poems. I’ve been writing poetry since I was in middle school, but it was a couple of summers during high school spent at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain that confirmed my dedication to the art of poetry and set me on the certain path to the writing life.

Hello, I’m Juan J. Morales, an assistant professor of English at Colorado College and a poet that lives in Pueblo, Colorado, here for Poets on the Plains. Today I am sharing my poem, “Visiting Your Grave,” from my latest collection, Dream of the Bird Tattoo, which was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2025.

My name is Jewel Rodgers and I am your state Poet of Nebraska and I am going to read my poem Bloom for you. I wrote this poem with the intention of keeping it grounded in very concrete items—hibiscus, rose, agave, domino tables, spades, soup kitchens, city halls. I wanted it to move from the intimacy of tending to oneself to tending to an entire community.