Poetry
SPRING 2026Uncoil
by LESLEY WHEELER
Every spiral is
a dizzy lesson
in spinning away from
anger and shame
ferns feathering over
the understory
Fiddlehead curls
frame a trail
like cobbles or creeks
or the ess of a snake
sprung from its bed
Wake up
wake up
there’s skin to shed
As Long As No One Sees by Josephine Florens
Lesley Wheeler
Lesley Wheeler’s sixth poetry collection is Mycocosmic (Tupelo Press, 2025). Her other books include Poetry’s Possible Worlds and the novel Unbecoming. Recent poems and essays appear in Poetry, Best American Poetry 2025, Poetry Daily, Orion, and Poets & Writers. Lesley is the Poetry Editor of Shenandoah and lives in Virginia.
Instagram and Threads at @LesleyMWheeler
Bluesky at @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social