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

  • "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"

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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