And I answer, “No. I’m in Poland for the poetry.”
But over beers in a basement filled with blue
shadows caught on the crumbling brick baleen
of the wall, strangers keep claiming, “I’m related to you.” […]

You can read the full sonnet, “Pleasure or Business?”—which relates my first time traveling to Poland and coming into contact my Jewish name in a whole different way—in the latest issue of Zyzzyva. I’m thrilled to have a poem appear in this venerable Bay Area journal. Growing up, it meant so much to me to know that it was being produced right where I lived; reading it inspired me in countless ways. And this issue continues to fulfill that role, with a wonderful essay by Paisley Rekdal and compelling poems by Rusty Morrison, Dean Rader, Alexandra Teague, and others.