Invisible Strings
Kristie Frederick Daugherty
An anthology of brand-new poems inspired by Taylor Swift songs, from a powerhouse group of contemporary poets, including Kate Baer, Maggie Smith, and Joy Harjo. Let the decoding begin!
Song List
"To the Bone" by Matt Abbott - "Snow on the Beach"
"Ballroom of Stars" by Diane Ackerman - "Starlight"
"Credit" by Paige Ackerson-Kiely - "cowboy like me"
"Resurrection" by Kim Addonizio - "Look What You Made Me Do"
"In Wonderland, We're Surprised/Not Surprised to Learn the Chamomile Tea Tastes Bitter" by Kelli Russell Agodon - "Anti-Hero"
"Trans/ohm" by Tommy Archuleta - "New Romantics"
"Ghost Gear" by Rae Armantrout - "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"
"Radioactive Apology" by Subhaga Crystal Bacon - "Afterglow"
"Final Straw" by Kate Baer - "But Daddy I Love Him"
"After Is After (Everything Is Over)" by Mary Jo Bang - "Sad, Beautiful, Tragic"
"Wabenzi Walks" by Samiya Bashir - "The Archer"
"Midnight Ruby" by Ellen Bass - "Fearless"
"How can I tell you what dark wing" by Robin Behn - "willow"
"Cocklebur" by Erin Belieu - "seven"
"The Suburbs" by Sabrina Benaim - "Sweet Nothing"
"I Go Back to the Past All the Time" by Jill Bialosky - "Back to December"
"Job 5:7" by Ellie Black - "Sparks Fly"
"June 1st, 7a.m." by Tennison Black - "You Need to Calm Down"
"Poem In Which I Realize That One Day I Won't Miss You" by Dustin Brookshire - "Now That We Don't Talk"
"Who We Were" by Nickole Brown - "Wildest Dreams"
"the much-maligned swiftie considers her options" by Stephanie Burr - "End Game"
"My Solitary Buckle of Night" by Lauren Camp - "Midnight Rain"
"Broken Feather Bad Boyfriend Blues" by Marilyn Chin - "The Albatross"
"You're So Gross and I Love You" by Christopher Citro - "You Belong With Me"
"Eternal" by Kai Coggin - "Holy Ground"
"Duet" by Andrea Cohen - "You're Losing Me"
"PARKING LOT POEM" by Catherine Cohen - "Picture to Burn"
"from First Light" by CA Conrad - "Out of the Woods"
"Letter to Future Me About Which Outfit to Wear for Future Wreckage" by Lisa Fay Coutley - "Florida!!!"
"No Invitations" by Kristie Frederick Daugherty - "Hits Different"
"Tempered" by Teri Cross Davis - "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"
"The Supreme Court Blues: July 1st 2024" by Cornelius Eady - "How Did It End?"
"HOMECOMING" by Jennifer Espinoza - "You're on Your Own, Kid"
"The bird in my mouth" by Blas Falconer - "Safe & Sound"
"AN ORDINARY DAY" by Jennifer Franklin - "Our Song"
"Anti-Sonnet" by Mag Gabbert - "Haunted"
"Or Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity" by John Gallaher - "Mastermind"
"The Gathering" by Callie Garnett - "I Forgot That You Existed"
"Perennial" by Andrea Gibson - "Enchanted"
"Exit Plans" by Joan Kwon Glass - "illicit affairs"
"Do Paper Dolls Still Exist?" by Rigoberto Gonzálaz - "Death by a Thousand Cuts"
"A Shared Nocturne" by Tyler Knott Gregson - "my tears ricochet"
"We Have" by David Groff - "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things"
"Another Version of Us" by Christian Gullette - "Cornelia Street"
"These Barcelonas" by James Allen Hall - "State of Grace"
"Ode to the Little Girl Singing Karaoke at My Nephew's Wedding Reception" by Barbara Hamby - "Would've, Could've, Should've"
"ON THE STAIRS" by Joy Harjo - "Nothing New"
"OUT OF THIS WORLD" by Matthea Harvey - "Down Bad"
"Bachelor" by Gustavo Hernandez - "mirrorball"
"IN THE REMODELED VAULT OF ETERNITY" by Brenda Hillman - "marjorie"
"And now from the distance of time" by Jane Hirshfield - "happiness"
"can she breathe?" by Ming Lauren Holden - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
"Moon and Earth" by J.D. Isip - "Clean"
"ANOTHER ROUND" by Didi Jackson - "Getaway Car"
"ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN" by Major Jackson - "Style"
"Visting the Poet Larry Levis's Archive in Virginia, I Pull His Black Cowboy Boots from Box Number 40" by Anna Journey - "The Black Dog"
"Of Flight" by Ilya Kaminsky - "Robin"
"ONCE" by Laura Kasischke - "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?"
"Lessons Learning" by Amy King - "Cruel Summer"
"Dreaming the Lowdown" by Yusef Komunyakaa - "Peter"
"WITHOUT YOU TRIPTYCH" by Deborah Landau - "Fortnight"
"Concessions" by Jessica Laser - "the 1"
"Deep into December" by Dorianne Laux - "evermore"
"Paperweight" by Lang Leav - "The Prophecy"
"Heaven in Grand Central Station" by Joseph O. Legaspi - "invisible string"
"alice, tumbling" by amanda lovelace - "I Look in People's Windows"
"HARK, THE RAUCOUS HEIRESS SPEAKS" by Shikha Malaviya - "the last great american dynasty"
"1993" by Katie Manning - "You are In Love"
"for a friend, considering leaving" by Hollie McNish - "The Bolter"
"Take this" by Honor Moore - "mad woman"
"Homeland" by Tomás W. Morin - "exile"
"Of All the Girls Who Might Have Made It Big" by Paul Muldoon - "Clara Bow"
"HONEYCOMBED AND DANGEROUS" by Katie Mullins - "Vigilante Shit"
"Auld Lang Syne" by Kerry Beth Neville - "New Year's Day"
"Postcard from the Jardin du Palais Royal" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil - "Begin Again"
"The Williams" by Naomi Shibab Nye - "the lakes"
"Incantation" by January Gill O'Neil - "Ready for It?"
"Entanglement" by Oluwaseun Olayiwola - "Dancing With Our Hands Tied"
"Firstborn" by Jeannine Ouellette - "august"
"Amusement Ruins" by Gegory Pardlo - "coney island"
"I Don't Need Your Measure" by Molly Peacock - "closure"
"Last Call" by Carl Phillips - "Maroon"
"It All Comes Back to Me Now" by Maya Popa - "The Manuscript"
"Raroa Road" by Nina Mingya Powles - "Red"
"Remembered Veneto, Summer 2004" by Stacy Pratt - "Long Live"
"Summer Lover" by Ruben Quesada - "Say Don't Go"
"Creation" by Dean Rader - "Shake it Off"
"The Long Marriage" by Victoria Redel - "Dress"
"Plural as the Universe" by Susan Rich - "The Man"
"Whereby in Reply" by Natasha Sajé - "Beautiful Eyes"
"No Table I Could Dress" by Carey Salerno - "tolerate it"
"SINCE YOU CAN'T SPELL DISASTER WITHOUT DESIRE" by Christopher Salerno - "champagne problems"
"Earth Too" by Elizabeth Scanlon - "Glitch"
"The Lucky One" by Diane Seuss - "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart"
"struggle" by Evie Shockley - "I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In"
"I Revert to a Familiar Theme: You" by Betsy Sholl - "cardigan"
"Close" by Richard Siken - "loml"
"Ophelia, Mania from the Willow Tree" by Andrea Simpson - "hoax"
"Pull" by Maggie Smith - "peace"
"Letter that You Never Read" by Aaron Smith - "Tim McGraw"
"VIRGINIA REEL" by David St. John - "ivy"
"The Gift of Apollo" by A.E. Stallings - "Cassandra"
"Love's Cure" by Bianca Stone - "Lover"
"When You Rise From the Dead, Drive You to the After Party" by Melissa Studdard - "Karma"
"IF I COULD TELL HER WHAT I KNOW NOW" by Tess Taylor - "Fifteen"
"Espectacularistas" by Rodrigo Toscano - "ME!"
"Pathetic Fallacy" by Paul Tran - "White Horse"
"Oceans Apart" by Leah Umansky - "Love Story"
"Oracle of a Trickster Night" by Anne Waldman - "Guilty as Sin?"
"Grief Observatory" by Topaz Winters - "Is It Over Now?"
"inside an integrated dream-like star" by avery r. young - "Lavender Haze"
"Friendship" by Matthew Zapruder & Victoria Chang - "dorothea"
Photo: © Noelle K Photography