Earthbound
by Stephen Reaugh
Work on the farm is an assembly line
of alienation: those imperfect,
grotesque gargoyles of tools; head-down labor;
the exquisite wild, un-celebrated;
a montage of the not-quite-square;
that vampiric index of every
earthly being lowered into our mouths.
Stephen M. Reaugh grew up in western Pennsylvania. In 2016, he obtained an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama. His creative and critical work has appeared in Teaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice, The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, Hawaiʻi Review, Rabbit Catastrophe Review, and others. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student in English and American Literature at Washington University in St. Louis.
What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “Earthbound”? “Earthbound” is from a series of poems “found” from conversations in Dr. Julia Walker’s “Rethinking Aesthetics” course at Washington University in St. Louis. I harvested most of “Earthbound” from our discussion of taste and alienation through Sara Ahmed’s “Happy Objects.” Somehow, we ended up talking about farming; it was a fruitful discussion, at any rate.
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
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Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
05/04 • Leath Tonino
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05/25 • Clayton Eccard
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