Sharon Tracey
Poet, Writer and Editor
Art is a parallel harmony with nature
—Paul Cézanne
About
Sharon Tracey is a poet, writer, and editor based in western Massachusetts. Her poems have appeared in The Worcester Review, Mom Egg Review, Tule Review, Common Ground Review, Ekphrasis and other print and online journals and in a number of anthologies. Her reviews have appeared in Rain Taxi and Cider Press Review. Art and nature are recurring themes in her work. She has worked as an environmental program director, editor, and communications director and holds a Master’s degree from the University of California Berkeley. Her first collection of poetry, What I Remember Most is Everything (All Caps Publishing, 2017) is available on Amazon. Her second poetry collection, Chroma, inspired by the work of women artists painting over five centuries is forthcoming from Shanti Arts Publishing.
Works
All Caps Publishing, 2017
Publications in Print and Online
2021 Full-length poetry collection, Chroma (Shanti Arts Publishing) forthcoming
2020 Poem “The Outermost House” in From the Farther Shore (Bass River Press) forthcoming
2020 Poem "The Pines" in 30 Poems in November Anthology
2020 Poem “Self-Portrait with Black Background” in The Ekphrastic Review (January 2020)
2019 Poem "Frescoed Clouds" in The Skinny Poetry Anthology (Cherry Castle Publishing 2019)
2019 Poem “Sunrise Run in Zion” in The Worcester Review (Vol. 40, No. 1 & 2)
2019 Book review of The Davids Inside David in Rain Taxi Review (Vol. 24, No. 3, Fall 2019)
2019 Poems “The Dryer, the Birds and the Plumber” and “The Deployment of Bees” in Silkworm 12
2019 Poem "Waiting for the Show That Is Morning" in Molecule (Inaugural September issue)
2019 Book Review of The Bones of Winter Birds in Cider Press Review (Vol. 21, Issue 2)
2019 Poem “Walk in a Winter Storm” in A Constellation of Kisses (Terrapin Books 2019)
2019 Poem "On Me Fait Signe" in The Ekphrastic Review (June 2019)
2019 Poem "5 PM" in SWWIM Every Day (May 2019)
2019 Poem "Godbird"in Tule Review (2019)
2019 Poem "Solo Hike on the Wilderness Coastal Trail" in Mom Egg Review (Vol. 17, 2019)
2019 Short Fiction "Same Day Appointment" in LINEA (Vol. I, No. I, 2019)
2019 Poems “Self-Portrait" and “Fishes” in Voice of Eve (Issue 4, February 2019)
2019 Poem "Send Me a Photo of the Bottom of Your Shoes" in 30 Poems in November Anthology
2018 Poem "Un Mundo" in Forth (November 2018)
2018 Poems "Elegy for Doris" and "What the Poverty Grass Said along the Edges of Route 66"
in Silkworm 11
2018 Poem "Flower Poem in Two Parts"in SPANK the CARP (Pond 44 October 2018)
2018 Poem "C-5 Galaxy Flying North Over South Amherst" in Compass Roads Anthology (Spring 2018)
2018 Poem "170,000 Refugees Arrived in Italy Last Year" in Wordpeace (Winter/Spring 2018)
2018 Poem “Waiting in Line to be Added to the Endangered Species List” in Canary (No. 40, Spring 2018)
2018 Poem "Self-Portrait Hesitating between Music and Painting" in Light: A Journal of Photography and
Poetry (Issue 6–Muse, Spring 2018)
2018 Poem "The Poetry Coat" in 30 Poems in November Anthology
2018 Poem “Clothesline: Idomeni Camp in Greece” in Common Ground Review (Vol. 19, No.2 Fall/Winter)
2017 Poem “Fish Who Grow Into Girls” in 56 Days of August Anthology (Fall 2017)
2017 Poems "I Have No Shadow," "Judith Slaying Holofernes" and "A Nun" in The Ekphrastic Review (Fall 2017)
2017 Poems “Maria Sibylla Merian Speaks on Metamorphosis” and “Self-Portrait by Paula Medersohn-Becker”
in Ekphrasis (Vol. 7 No. 6 Fall/Winter 2017)
2017 Book Review of Cutting Room in Rain Taxi Review (Vol. 22, No. 3, Fall 2017)
2017 Poems “Small Extinctions” and “Night Meditation” in Silkworm 10
2017 Full-length poetry collection, What I Remember Most Is Everything (All Caps Publishing 2017)
2017 Poem “30 Days in November” in 30 Poems in November Anthology
2016 Poem “Green Flies Eat Peaches” in Haiku Journal
2016 Poems “Summertime” and “Frescoed Clouds” in The Skinny Poetry Journal
2016 Poem “Migration of Desire” in Naugatuck River Review
2016 Poems “The Motion of Magnitude” and “Welcome” in Silkworm 9
2016 Poem “Luna Moth” in 30 Poems in November Anthology
Poems
A Few Poems . . .
Godbird
Limosa limosa, you black-tailed
godwit, long-legged prober
migratory mud wader
you seem a god on speed
slurping up plump polychaetes
& mollusks to double your weight,
record holder for the longest flight
ever tracked by satellite:
New Zealand-China-Alaska
& back again, no changing planes
no baggage checked nor claimed
high-tailing it over the Mai Po Marsh
the Yellow River a squirt of murky mustard
glimpsed through smog as you soar
over soggy hills and bogs
what full-steam-ahead stamina
no fear of flight like some of us
sitting in a chrome capsule
aloft on the other side of the world
cutting through cumulus & leaving contrails,
wondering how this makes any sense
gripping the armrests
& praying
keep us safe from ourselves
as the flight attendant calls us to attention:
please fasten your seatbelts
we are experiencing some turbulence
This poem first appeared in Tule Review
Migration of Desire
September died
stiff knees on stalks
I flew, already late
milkweed fluff
whipped white
winging southwest
to Mexico
this mountain
fir forest
this teeming tree
please come sun
with a cloth
to dry me
absorbing
as a fine powder
would
to warm
my muscles
frost crystals
my mortal wound
bring me
my breath
trachea tunneling
my body
my eye an oracle
the drops so
heavy
on my shoulders
cling as
color
to skin
so ready
this tongue
to drink dew again
This poem first appeared in the Naugatuck River Review
Summertime
In raging heat I wear a dress of linen
beaten
stalks
scotched
fibers
beaten
nubs
heckled
slubs
beaten
I wear a dress of linen in raging heat
Frescoed Clouds
Again, they masquerade as solid objects
float
lacquered
opaque
glazed
float
light
packed
gold
float
They masquerade as solid objects, again
These poems first appeared in the Skinny Poetry Journal
Projects
Women in Art History - Painting and Poetry
My second full-length poetry collection, Chroma, inspired by the work of women artists painting over the past five centuries, is forthcoming from Shanti Arts Publishing. Featuring poems inspired by the work of 47 women artists (born in 26 different countries), the poems are arranged in a series of galleries, taking the "viewer" back through time and history seen through the lens of women making art. Some were well-known within their circles and times, others worked in relative obscurity. The youngest died at 26, the oldest at 101. Some are painting at this very moment. Here are links to a few of the featured artists and paintings.
Un Mundo (Ángeles Santos, 1929) in Forth
Self-Portrait with Black Background (Helene Schjerfbeck, 1915) in The Ekphrastic Review
I Have No Shadow (Kay Sage, 1940) in The Ekphrastic Review
Readings and Activities
Readings
2019 30 Poems in November /Center for New Americans, Smith College
2019 Silkworm 12 Launch, Lily Library, Northampton
2019 Northampton 2019 Art and Poetry Biennial, Forbes Library, Northampton
2019 Mom Egg Review Issue 17 Launch, Poets House, New York City
2018 30 Poems in November/Center for New Americans, Smith College
2018 Silkworm 11 Launch, Lily Library, Florence
2018 Compass Roads / Straw Dogs, The Book Mill, Montague
2018 Compass Roads / Straw Dogs, Senior Center, Northampton
2017 30 Poems in November /Center for New Americans, Smith College
2017 Silkworm10 Launch, Lily Library, Florence
2017 Straw Dog Writers Featured Writer, The Basement, Northampton
2017 What I Remember Most is Everything Book Launch, Northampton
2016 Silkworm 9 Launch, Lily Library, Florence
2016 30 Poems in November /Center for New Americans, Smith College
2015 30 Poems in November /Center for New Americans, Smith College
Editorial
2016 - present Editorial Team – Silkworm (Volumes 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
2016 - present Manuscript Reader - Perugia Press / Annual Poetry Competition
Other
2018 - present Board of Directors, Perugia Press
2016 - present Straw Dogs Writers Guild
2015 - present Florence Poets Society
2015 - present Poetry Critique Collective
2015 - present 30 Poems in November to support the Center for New Americans
2016 - present August Poetry Postcard Fest
Contact & Links
Contact
sharontracey.com