Diane Seuss, poet and educator, was born in Indiana and raised in Michigan. She is the author of several poetry collections, including frank: sonnets (Graywolf, 2021), winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry; Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl; and It Blows You Hollow. She is also the recipient of the 2021 John Updike Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Am I Supposed to Know the Difference between Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry? I Don’t.

by Diane Seuss

Should I have an opinion about the kindling snap the line makes

when it’s broken,
and the ridiculous echo? There’s nothing special about being broken.

Where I’m from

it’s all plaster casts, walkers, and breathing machines. Bud’s been dead for

years and Shirley’s
still blaming him for her emphysema. I changed chronic obstructive

pulmonary disease

to emphysema in order to streamline, but Bud’s real. Aunt Shirley’s real.
People on couch
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