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Danusha Laméris, raised in Northern California, was born to a Dutch father and Barbadian mother. She is the author of three poetry collections: The Moons of August, winner of the Autumn House Press Poetry Prize; Bonfire Opera, winner of the 2021 Northern California Book Award; and Blade by Blade (Copper Canyon Press, 2024). Recipient of the 2020 Lucille Clifton Legacy Award, she is on the faculty of Pacific University’s low-residency MFA program.



Photo credit: Mark Stover

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They Say the Heart Wants

by Danusha Laméris
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what it wants, but no one tells you what it gets.
So here’s a list, mine: tall grasses, blowing in the wind,

swirled glass cups, peacock blue, bought in Lebanon.
Fog off the California cliffs, dark boulders on the shore.


Billie Holiday’s I’ll be seeing you in all the old
familiar places, cycling through my auditory cortex.
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  • What an incredibly delightful and appropriate Christmas Eve list. I...

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