Rattle 2026 Poetry Prize Finalist
I am so honored to be selected as a finalist for the 2026 Rattle Poetry Prize! 11 great poets, 11 amazing poems. Congratulations to Marcia LeBeau as the top prize winner.
I’m grateful to be selected, but also excited that the selection was my poem Crown of American Ashes. It’s a heroic crown of 14 sonnets, numbered into one poem. The form calls for the last line of the first sonnet to become the first line of the next, through a cycle of 14 lines (or sonnets). For me, it has always been a goal to write, and a feat of craft to get it done.
The result is a pretty long poem, and I wasn’t sure it would ever see the light of day because of its unwieldy length for a journal. So I’m thrilled that it found a home, and was recognized among so many other wonderful poems.
Check out me reading the poem on the announcement episode of Rattlecast. And better yet, watch the Rattlecast episode and hear 10 other amazing poems.
