The Poets Weave

A Party of Five Becomes Two

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” --Socrates  Colleen Wells read her poems “A Party of Five Becomes Two,” “Heartblast,” “Love It or List It,” “Snow Day,” and “March Madness.” Colleen believes writing is a healing force and helps others feel empowered to share their stories. Her works include a memoir, Dinner with Doppelgangers – A True Story of Madness & Recovery, and two poetry chapbooks, Animal Magnetism and Around the Bend. She is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist candidate.

This Isn't Your Dream

Mary Dezember [https://marydezember.com] is an award-winning author of stories and poetry as portals to possibilities. While earning her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Indiana University, she directed the Runcible Spoon Poetry Series. Professor Emeritus of English at New Mexico Tech, Mary was awarded a writer’s residency at the Historic Santa Fe Foundation in 2025. Mary reads her poems " This Isn’t Your Dream" and "2000 Women."

Scattered Forecast

"Less than anything cannot satisfy man.” – William Blake Alyse Knorr [https://alysejoy.wixsite.com/alyseknorr] is the author of six poetry collections and two video game history books. Her lyrics have been performed at Carnegie Hall and her poetry is permanently installed on a wall of the New York City Public Library's East Harlem branch. She serves as an associate professor of English at Regis University. Alyse reads her poems “Scattered Forecast,” “Artifacts,” “Emptied Full,” “Evening,” “Day I Wanted Every Last Thing,” “Day I Wanted Only One Thing,” and “Epistle (You).”

Frame Inside a Frame

Poet Daniel Lassell reads “Llama,” “Ritter Park Cabin,” “Frame [Like a resurrected body],” “Downward Rooms,” and “Frame Inside a Frame [In the underworld].” Daniel [https://www.daniel-lassell.com/] is the author of two poetry books: Spit, published by Wheelbarrow Books in 2021, after winning the 2020 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize [https://poetry.rcah.msu.edu/wheelbarrow-books/previous-winners.html]; and Frame Inside a Frame [https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781680034288/frame-inside-a-frame/] published by Texas Review Press in 2025. Daniel grew up in Kentucky and lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

On Devotion

Poet Michael M. Feinstein reads "Gender Clinic," "On Devotion," and "Recognition." Michael M. Weinstein [https://michaelmweinstein.com/] is a poet, essayist, and literary scholar. He is the author of Saint Consequence (Alice James Books, 2025) as well as articles and poems that have appeared in venues like The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, Boston Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. Michael holds a Ph.D. from Harvard and an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan. A proud member of the trans and disability communities, he now teaches at New York University.