Author Archives: Christine Hemp

About Christine Hemp

Poet and writer Christine Hemp has aired her poems and essays on NPR’s Morning Edition; she has sent a poem of hers into space on a NASA mission to monitor the birth of stars; and her essays have appeared in such publications as the Iowa Review, Yale Anglers Journal, and the Boston Globe. Her awards include Harvard Extension School’s Conway Award for Teaching Writing, a Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship for Literature, and an Iowa Review Award. Her poetry collection, That Fall, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2011. Hemp teaches at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival.

POEM OF THE WEEK: Lorraine Troutman’s Roses

LORRAINE TROUTMAN’S ROSES for Dr. Aimee Kohn One season, between jobs and men, I potted pansies, weeded beds for cash. The air was cold, spring barely evident but [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: The Empty Tomb

                        THE EMPTY TOMB Three nights before she was to dance Saint-Saëns’ “The Dying Swan,” Anna Pavlova [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: The Juggler

THE JUGGLER Look at the juggler balancing time! His hands intent on a touch, not a hold. He knows suspension is his paradigm. He throws up the terrible [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: Icarus

ICARUS It was his idea, this flying thing. We collected feathers at night, stuffing our pockets with mourning dove down. By day, we’d weave and glue them with [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: The Rain Rises

                        THE RAIN RISES The mist rises from the pavement after rain. The pavement rises, too, and [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: Let’s

  LET’S arrange our cups and plates on the floor in the shape of a clock. Watch time stand still. by Christine Hemp IMAGE:  Eszter Imre,    “Must [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: Beetle Backs and Wings

                        BEETLE BACKS AND WINGS I grabbed a shirt and wrapped the giant beetle in the cloth. [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: The Things That Keep Us Here

THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE I wouldn’t call them dream times exactly, those moments when the wind finds you folding clothes or putting the milk away. And [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: Vacant

VACANT My father told us never to look at the dead animals along the road. Our Ford sped past the stiff fuzzy guts, sometimes freshly spilled. It was [..]

Poems and Ponderings

POEM OF THE WEEK: Even When

EVEN WHEN I close my eyes the light that was you burns against my lids. by Christine Hemp from “Looking For Your Name”         (Orchard [..]

Poems and Ponderings