Lee Ann Roripaugh (she/they) is a biracial Nisei and the author of five volumes of poetry, mostly recently tsunami vs. the fukushima 50 (Milkweed Editions, 2019), which was named a “Best Book of 2019” by the New York Public Library, selected as a poetry Finalist in the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards, cited as a Society of Midland Authors 2020 Honoree in Poetry, and was named one of the “50 Must-Read Poetry Collections in 2019” by Book Riot. Her collection of fiction, Reveal Codes, was selected as winner of the Moon City Press Short Fiction Award and published by Moon City Press in late 2023, and their chapbook, #stringofbeads, a winner in the Diode Editions Chapbook Competition, was released from Diode Press in 2023. She was named winner of the Association of Asian American Studies Book Award in Poetry/Prose for 2004, and a 1998 winner of the National Poetry Series. The South Dakota State Poet Laureate from 2015-2019, Roripaugh is a Professor of English at the University of South Dakota, where they serve as Editor-in-Chief of South Dakota Review.
Selections from #stringofbeads, Honorable Mention, Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize
#laglaneuse
skates the Gaussian :: curls of the day in ara- :: besqueing figure eights
of a Mobius strip / the :: ouroboros’s surfed curves
~
thrum of the Hy-Vee :: parking lot’s quotidian :: drone unzippered by
an electric ricochet :: of blue mating dragonflies
~
is contemplating :: luminol / mooning over :: the cosmic blue-lit
crime scene / awaiting further :: chemiluminescent clues
~
the brains of salmon :: have been permanent markered :: with the scent of their
native waters / what neuro- :: logical tattoos / what chem-
ical signal and :: flare engraves our own relent- :: less migrations? / what
inexorably draws us? :: what beacons compel us home?
~
sizzled hiss and tang :: clementine unrinded / hummed :: rustle in sweetness
helicopter-winged sphinx moths :: tongue-ing the honeysuckle
~
wonders what makes grand :: forks grand forks? / why not pint-sized :: knives? / or unpromising
spoons? / why lucky ducks? / why not :: jinxed skinks? / inauspicious fish?
~
the molten shimmer :: and blast in the vocabu- :: lary of blown glass
frit / pontil / consorzio :: bullicante / sommerso
~
wonders if escaped :: parakeets on the lam are :: ever found / smoke-
smudged / trying to stay warm / hunched :: in the chimneys of Hormel?
~
unscrimmed: the see-through :: eyespots on antheraea :: harti’s wings / a trans-
parent cellophane window :: (moth-wing) scales fallen from eyes
~
wishes to become :: la glaneuse of things once empty :: now full: dog day cicada’s
shell filled with pollen / mason :: jar of unbuttoned
buttons / camera :: stuffed with the ephemera :: of simulacra
cosmic dark matter / a bowl :: of fog / a head filled with rain
#ontheroad
hotel’s liminal :: blur / anywhere-ness / any- :: one-ness / then merges
back into the tricky on- :: ramp of your own lonesome skin
~
propane deep blue clouds :: with gaslit underbellies :: reflected back in
glass-bright sloughs / red-winged blackbirds :: studding the mile marker posts
~
cherry pit stop gas :: and casino / minnows and ammo :: bait worms out back!
fueling on the precipice :: of springtime’s epoch ellipse
~
semiology :: spink → wakonda → vanitas → :: overpass may be
icy → jesus saves → BOW-X-HUNT → :: tea adult supercenter
~
little birds stipple :: a milky sky / sticky leaves’ :: wet yellow makes the
center line brighter / rain-drenched :: heads of sunflowers sadder
~
busy buzz of snow : like insects in a hurry :: an agitation
of snow geese burst white kernels :: popcorning in stubble corn
~
filaments of geese :: and cranes cross-stitching the mist :: down I-29
squeaky dry-erase markers :: rubbing on the whiteboard sky
~
the morning’s thin rime :: of soft frost scraping off in :: slow spiraling curls
like vegetable skins rinding :: off a peeler’s sharp bride blade
~
snow dragons lick the :: interstate with frostbitten :: breath / skidoo-ing through
stunned tundra with no regard :: for day-glo orange safety cones
#preludetopumpkinspicelatteseason
august cicadas :: stainless-steel blades slice thick air :: a tsunami of
sound that rises in a wall . . . :: falls / rises in a wall . . . falls
~
nozzled clouds flatten :: in late afternoon / upside- :: down squirrel with a fat
apple / hanging tightly from :: the branch by his toes / ripens
~
jitterbuggy sleep :: monarchs cartwheel / bright orange :: scraps of crepe paper
moving vans line the sidewalks :: full mouths open / unfurled tongues
~
dear summer: I mis- :: spent your shiny days / bright coins :: in a deadwood slot
machine / below the glowering :: of stuffed dusty buffalos
(purchase from https://www.diodeeditions.com/product-page/stringofbeads)