The Rebellion of Ordinary Things

with poem & prompts by Jackie Craven & Joan Kwon Glass

What if ordinary objects were witnesses & could tell us what they think of us, of one another & of the world?

We all have a junk drawer somewhere in our house. Mine is in the kitchen. It’s filled with random things that if inventoried, could tell a hundred stories about my life & the histories that have defined me, my home & my family. There are also items that seem to appear out of nowhere—I cannot explain where they came from, who placed them there, or what their purpose is.

If objects could speak, if they could feel—what would they tell us?

This week’s guest writer shares a poem about the “rebellion” of ordinary objects. Read her poem below:

This week’s guest writer is Jackie Craven.

"The Red Line Rumbles at the Gateway Station" from WHISH by Jackie Craven

---

More about the author: Jackie Craven writes poetry and prose steeped in magical realism. Her new collection, WHISH, won the Press 53 Poetry Award. Previous books include Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters (Brick Road Poetry Press), chapbooks from Headmistress Press and Omnidawn, and illustrated books on interior design. Shorter works appear in AGNI, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Cincinnati Review, Pleiades, Ploughshares, and many other journals and anthologies. After completing a Doctor of Arts from the English Department at UAlbany, she worked for many years as a journalist covering architecture, art, and travel. She lives in Schenectady, NY; Cocoa Beach, FL; and on Zoom, where she hosts an open mic for writers.

---

Interested in taking a virtual, generative poetry class with Joan? Click HERE!

Interested in learning more about a manuscript consultation? Click HERE!

Ready to write?