In December 2022 and January 2023, I had the privilege of appearing alongside one of my favorite formal poets working today, Matthew Buckley Smith, in two consecutive issues of Matt Wall’s super punk, single-page, monthly periodical, The Blood Rag! My poems were, respectively, “Crescendo in a Bottle” and “New Year’s.” I highly recommend you check out Matt Wall’s website, and go buy The Blood Rag (only $1 an issue!) at his Etsy shop.

I came to know Matt Wall first through his controversial debut appearance on my favorite poetry podcast, Sleerickets. Since then, I have struck up a writing friendship with him. Though he is a bit of a crazy figure, he is incredibly prolific, highly energetic, exuding rock star energy, and heavily punk (in a real way) in his aesthetic and tastes. Look through his stuff, especially his hilarious I Hate Matt Wall Poetry Podcast! His poetry podcast is now one of my favorites–alongside Sleerickets, Poetry Says, and Versecraft–joining a slowly growing number of poetry podcasts that seek to break away from the usual poetry podcast format that is boring, self-congratulatory, never controversial, and always safe.

Though I do recommend checking out The Blood Rag via Matt Wall’s website, his intention is for people to spread these one-pagers around, so I will share them here, below, side-by-side: