From the start, it has been my particular guiding principle to be inclusive and eclectic. This not only mirrors my own way of appreciating poetry, but it seems if not utterly democratic then at least striving to be so. My joys as an editor are many. Those times when I have been fortunate to bring readers the work of highly acclaimed poets are special to me, but what makes me happier still is to be able to offer that notable work in juxtaposition with the remarkable poetry of lesser-known poets whose work I run across while living a poet’s life.
So I feel blessed that my Congeries has featured not only Maxine Kumin, Campbell McGrath, Michael Harper, Claudia Emerson, Medbh McGuckian, Alicia Ostriker, Alberto Rios, John Tranter, Carl Phillips, John Burnside and Dorianne Laux, but also Anna Journey, Sandy Tseng, dawn lonsinger, Tracey Knapp, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Mihaela Moscaliuc, Joni Wallace, Rebecca Lindenberg, and Heather Hartley.
Each day reveals new reasons to seek what is found in poetry, and these needs influence our engagement with individual poems. This selection of poetry from the past year, those that on this very hot July day seem particularly urgent to me, suggests the larger discussion found in each individual Congeries, as well those conversations along the growing arc of them. These discussions, of course, expand, veer, and surprise when considered in the greater context of the many offerings Connotation Press: An Online Artifact provides.
It would be impossible to list each outstanding contribution to the Congeries here; rather, I've listed here just a few choices from each month. It has indeed been a wonderfully odd and often beautiful year’s journey, and I hope that the following poems will provide you with the same sustenance I’ve found in them. I’ll be back with a new Congeries in September; enjoy the summer!
September
John Allman
"Annus Mirabilis"
"Nothing but Trouble"Al Maginnes
"Before Elegy"
"Blood Oranges for Easter"
October
Kathy Fagan
"Elendish"
"Optimum Conditions" John Gallagher
"Daily Life in Classical Antiquity"
November
Duhamel & Lemmon
"It's Complicated"
"Sometimes It's Everything"Kwame Dawes
"Cross Roads"
"Freud's Little Statues"Tracey Knapp
"Inheritance"
December
Michael Harper
"1965 Watts Riot"
"The Pact" Camille Dungy
"How Great the Gardens When They Thrive"
"The Moon in Greece"
January
Alicia Ostriker 
"Back to the Garden"
"Lore" Claudia Emerson
"Variations from the Porch"
"Honeysuckle" Joni Wallace
"Star Spangled Valentine . . ."
February
James Richardson
"Shore Town, Winter"
"Fable Sleepless with Colic . . . " dawn lonsinger
"The Further We Wade Out"
March
"Baltimore"
"Lovelily"Alberto Rios
"One Thursday Afternoon . . . "April
John Tranter
“The Ideal”
Cynthia Cruz
“The Unheard Music”
John Burnside
“Comedy”
Dorianne Laux
“Paper Dolls
Rebecca Lindenberg
“The Winged Skull . . .”
Michael Burkard 
“small paintings on paper”
Jim Daniels
“Fresh Figs”
May
Medbh McGuckian
“Gold Star Mother”
Brendan Galvin
“Meeting the Bird Club”
Sandy Tseng
“Movement of Birds”
Renee Ashley
“Less than the Plow”
Heather Hartley
“Nine lives in ten or eleven lines”
July
H.L. Hix
“Oracle’s Voice”
Carl Phillips
“As for That Piece of Sundown . . .”
Keith Flynn
“The Brides of Christ”
Kathleen Graber
“Florum Principi”
April
John Tranter “The Ideal”
Cynthia Cruz “The Unheard Music”
John Burnside “Comedy”
Dorianne Laux “Paper Dolls
Rebecca Lindenberg “The Winged Skull . . .”
Michael Burkard “small paintings on paper”
Jim Daniels “Fresh Figs”
May
Medbh McGuckian “Gold Star Mother”
Brendan Galvin “Meeting the Bird Club”
Sandy Tseng “Movement of Birds”
Renee Ashley “Less than the Plow”
Heather Hartley “Nine lives in ten or eleven lines”
July
H.L. Hix “Oracle’s Voice”
Carl Phillips “As for That Piece of Sundown . . .”
Keith Flynn “The Brides of Christ”
Kathleen Graber “Florum Principi”