Melissa Lemay
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Fractions in a Spectrum: An Interview on Collaborature
Back in September, I sat down with poet and editor Melissa Lemay for an interview on her site, Collaborature. Somehow I completely missed when the piece went live—and we can chalk that up to juggling a few too many projects at once, or my own scatterbrained nature, or… whatever—but that one’s definitely on me. Melissa did send me the link, and Continue reading
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Poetry That Breaks the Rules—and Works
Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Melissa Lemay, and Barbara Leonhard(Prolific Pulse Press, 2025) Melissa Lemay, who readers will recognize from Record of Dissent, is back with a new collaboration, and this one leans hard into play. Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry is a quick, sharp collection co-written with Nolcha Fox and Barbara Leonhard, with a striking cover illustration Continue reading
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brick by brick
Melissa Lemay the school was builtwe sat in classroomseach day, rote memorizationof facts and figuresbut never learning about interest ratesor mortgages,real-world, real-life things we would use(not) taught to thinkin dewey decimal systematicallyingrained with fractureand parliament defined by etiquette and social order i took out my retainerand placed it onmy lunch tray, and threw it in the Continue reading
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she writes me down
Melissa Lemay a number on the marginsturns me over and backi exist in silentclaim numbers she clack-clack-clackshits send to askagain what year‘the incident’ occurred i tell her i don’t remembermost of my life i list out dates all estimatesin language she probablydoes (not) understand, i understand only incidentsthat happened in pennsylvaniaqualify me for the aid Continue reading
The Chaos Section Poetry Project 