Devon Balwit, author of Dog-Walking in the Shadow of Pyongyang and Rubbing Shoulders with the Greats, lives in Portland, Ore.

Posts By This Author

What the Fall Taught Me

by Devon Balwit 09-30-2024
A poem.
Red gradient background with shadowed profile of a woman with a mysterious plant overlayed on top of her.

Illustration by Vartika Sharma

I once believed I could hate intermittently,
an incandescence I could turn on and off
with the will or guide with the pressure
of my knees or with reins woven
from the clear demands of the moment.

Mercy Seat

by Devon Balwit 05-09-2022
A poem.
Illustration of chickens pecking at the ground in the shadow of their human feeder

Illustration by Mary Haasdyk

The chickens have a meanness I cannot quell
though I thunder from the kitchen window, a god
of rice and oats. No matter how much I scatter
in the cardinal directions, there is bullying,
the Silver Laced Wyandottes the worst despite their name.

Easter

by Devon Balwit 03-01-2021
A poem.
Illustration of a woman with a cherry blossom covering her face as she floats down a stream in a canoe.

Illustration by Nicole Xu

Keep your eyes on your work. Looking
at a dogwood does not make you blossom.

Nor can a bridge of sighs span an ocean
of despair. For that, you need oars

and strong arms. Labor as long
as it is still called today. Yes, Faith

could have worn other metaphors,
but instead it rose from the dead

and asked questions: Why are you
crying? Who are you looking for?

Do not fear. Answer. The Risen One
speaks your language.