Invisible Strings by Kristie Frederick Daugherty
Invisible Strings by Kristie Frederick Daugherty

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

● "Pull" by Maggie Smith - "peace"

● "How can I tell you what dark wing" by Robin Behn - "willow"

● "Plural as the Universe" by Susan Rich - "The Man"

● "Love's Cure" by Bianca Stone - "Lover"

● "A Shared Nocturne" by Tyler Knott Gregson - "my tears ricochet"

● "Postcard from the Jardin du Palais Royal" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil - "Begin Again"

● "Raroa Road" by Nina Mingya Powles - "Red"

● "Last Call" by Carl Phillips - "Maroon"

● "Heaven in Grand Central Station" by Joseph O. Legaspi - "invisible string"

● "Dreaming the Lowdown" by Yusef Komunyakaa - "Peter"

● "Trans/ohm" by Tommy Archuleta - "New Romantics"

● "alice, tumbling" by amanda lovelace - "I Look in People's Windows"

● "In Wonderland, We're Surprised/Not Surprised to Learn the Chamomile Tea Tastes Bitter" by Kelli Russell Agodon - "Anti-Hero"

● "Radioactive Apology" by Subhaga Crystal Bacon - "Afterglow"

● "Another Version of Us" by Christian Gullette - "Cornelia Street"

● "Concessions" by Jessica Laser - "the 1"

● "Letter to Future Me About Which Outfit to Wear for Future Wreckage" by Lisa Fay Coutley - "Florida!!!"

● "Do Paper Dolls Still Exist?" by Rigoberto Gonzálaz - "Death by a Thousand Cuts"

● "can she breathe?" by Ming Lauren Holden - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

● "The bird in my mouth" by Blas Falconer - "Safe & Sound"

● "On The Stairs" by Joy Harjo - "Nothing New"

● "Paperweight" by Lang Leav - "The Prophecy"

● "Incantation" by January Gill O'Neil - "Ready for It?"

● "Oracle of a Trickster Night" by Anne Waldman - "Guilty as Sin?"

● "The Gift of Apollo" by A.E. Stallings - "Cassandra"

● "Honeycombed And Dangerous" by Katie Mullins - "Vigilante Shit"

● "Lessons Learning" by Amy King - "Cruel Summer"

● "Wabenzi Walks" by Samiya Bashir - "The Archer"

● "Ophelia, Mania from the Willow Tree" by Andrea Simpson - "hoax"

● "No Table I Could Dress" by Carey Salerno - "tolerate it"

● "Cocklebur" by Erin Belieu - "seven"

● "Resurrection" by Kim Addonizio - "Look What You Made Me Do"

● "Once" by Laura Kasischke - "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?"

● "Tempered" by Teri Ellen Cross Davis - "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"

● "the much-maligned swiftie considers her options" by Stephanie Burt - "End Game"

● "Hark, the Raucous Heiress Speaks" by Shikha Malaviya - "the last great american dynasty"

● "The Lucky One" by Diane Seuss - "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart"

● "Broken Feather Bad Boyfriend Blues" by Marilyn Chin - "The Albatross"

● "Grief Observatory" by Topaz Winters - "Is It Over Now?"

● "The Williams" by Naomi Shibab Nye - "the lakes"

● "I Go Back to the Past All the Time" by Jill Bialosky - "Back to December"

● "Job 5:7" by Ellie Black - "Sparks Fly"

● "If I Could Tell Her What I Know Now" by Tess Taylor - "Fifteen"

● "The Gathering" by Callie Garnett - "I Forgot That You Existed"

● "Homecoming" by Jennifer Espinoza - "You're on Your Own, Kid"

● "Take this" by Honor Moore - "mad woman"

● "June 1st, 7 a.m." by Tennison Black - "You Need to Calm Down"

● "Virginia Reel" by David St. John - "ivy"

● "Of All the Girls Who Might Have Made It Big" by Paul Muldoon - "Clara Bow"

● "Whereby in Reply" by Natasha Sajé - "Beautiful Eyes"

● "Perennial" by Andrea Gibson - "Enchanted"

● "No Table I Could Dress" by Carey Salerno - "tolerate it"

● "Since You Can’t Spell Disaster Without Desire" by Christopher Salerno - "champagne problems"

● "1993" by Katie Manning - "You Are in Love"

● "struggle" by Evie Shockley - "I Knew You Were Trouble”

● "These Barcelonas" by James Allen Hall - "State of Grace"

● "You're So Gross and I Love You" by Christopher Citro - "You Belong With Me"

● "Out Of This World" by Matthea Harvey - "Down Bad"

● "Espectacularistas" by Rodrigo Toscano - "ME!"

● "Oceans Apart" by Leah Umansky - "Love Story"

● "Amusement Ruins" by Gregory Pardlo - "coney island"

● "Or Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity" by John Gallaher - "Mastermind"

● "from First Light" by CAConrad - "Out of the Woods"

● "The Supreme Court Blues: July 1st 2024" by Cornelius Eady - "How Did It End?"

● "Pathetic Fallacy" by Paul Tran - "White Horse"

● "Poem In Which I Realize That One Day I Won't Miss You" by Dustin Brookshire - "Now That We Don't Talk"

● "I Don't Need Your Measure" by Molly Peacock - "closure"

● "No Invitations" by Kristie Frederick Daugherty - "Hits Different"

● "Without You Triptych" by Deborah Landau - "Fortnight"

● "Deep into December" by Dorianne Laux - "evermore"

● "Firstborn" by Jeannine Ouellette - "august"

● "Another Round" by Didi Jackson - "Getaway Car"

● Visiting the Poet Larry Levis's Archive in Virginia, I Pull His Black Cowboy Boots from Box Number 40" by Anna Journey - "The Black Dog"

● "for a friend, considering leaving" by Hollie McNish - "The Bolter"

● "The Suburbs" by Sabrina Benaim - "Sweet Nothing"

● "An Ordinary Day" by Jennifer Franklin - "Our Song"

● "Ode to the Little Girl Singing Karaoke at My Nephew's Wedding Reception" by Barbara Hamby - "Would've, Could've, Should've"

● "Letter that You Never Read" by Aaron Smith - "Tim McGraw"

● "Credit" by Paige Ackerson-Kiely - "cowboy like me"

● "Bachelor" by Gustavo Hernandez - "mirrorball"

● "On Again, Off Again" by Major Jackson - "Style"

● "Creation" by Dean Rader - "Shake it Off"

● "We Have" by David Groff - "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things"

● "The Long Marriage" by Victoria Redel - "Dress"

● "I Revert to a Familiar Theme: You" by Betsy Sholl - "cardigan"

● "Ghost Gear" by Rae Armantrout - "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"

● "Earth Too" by Elizabeth Scanlon - "Glitch"

● "Entanglement" by Oluwaseun Olayiwola - "Dancing With Our Hands Tied"

● "Duet" by Andrea Cohen - "You're Losing Me"

● "Summer Lover" by Ruben Quesada - "Say Don't Go"

● "Parking Lot Poem" by Catherine Cohen - "Picture to Burn"

● "Anti-Sonnet" by Mag Gabbert - "Haunted"

● "Exit Plans" by Joan Kwon Glass - "illicit affairs"

● "Homeland" by Tomás W. Morín - "exile"

● "My Solitary Buckle of Night" by Lauren Camp - "Midnight Rain"

● "Remembered Veneto, Summer 2004" by Stacy Pratt - "Long Live"

● "Eternal" by Kai Coggin - "Holy Ground"

● "Midnight Ruby" by Ellen Bass - "Fearless"

● "After Is After (Everything Is Over)" by Mary Jo Bang - "Sad, Beautiful, Tragic"

● "inside an integrated dream-like state" by avery r. young - "Lavender Haze"

● "Ballroom of Stars" by Diane Ackerman - "Starlight"

● "Who We Were" by Nickole Brown - "Wildest Dreams"

● "Friendship" by Matthew Zapruder & Victoria Chang - "dorothea"

● "It All Comes Back to Me Now" by Maya C. Popa - "The Manuscript"

● "Moon and Earth" by J.D. Isip - "Clean"

● "To the Bone" by Matt Abbott - "Snow on the Beach"

● "Close" by Richard Siken - "loml"

● "Final Straw" by Kate Baer - "But Daddy I Love Him"

● "When You Rise From the Dead, Drive You to the After Party" by Melissa Studdard - "Karma"

● "Auld Lang Syne" by Kerry Beth Neville - "New Year's Day"

● "Of Flight" by Ilya Kaminsky - "Robin"

● "In The Remodeled Vault Of Eternity" by Brenda Hillman - "marjorie"

● "And now from the distance of time" by Jane Hirshfield - "happiness"

Kristie Frederick Daugherty

Photo: © Noelle K Photography

Kristie Frederick Daugherty

Kristie Frederick Daugherty is a poet and a professor at the University of Evansville. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is also a PhD candidate in Literature/Criticism at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she is writing a dissertation which examines how Taylor Swift's lyrics intersect with contemporary poetry.
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