A New National Anthem

“How to Triumph Like a Girl” by Ada Limón (2015)

This poem also appears in The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018). Like “A New National Anthem,” it has a confessional voice, making use of the first person: “I like the lady horses best” (Line 1). The introspective speaker conjures a powerful image as she pictures herself with “an 8-pound female horse heart, / giant with power, heavy with blood” (Lines 12-13). It’s also another monostich poem—one of Limón’s favored forms.

“The Long Ride” by Ada Limón (2018)

This poem appears in Issue 4 of Underbelly Magazine. Unlike most literary magazines, Underbelly also publishes the first version of a poem alongside the revised final product. Each poet includes a brief essay about the revision process that took them from the first to the final draft. About her revision process, Limón writes: “In […] all my revisions, I am revising for sound, for lyricism, and musicality, rhythm.” Limón’s attention to the musical flow of a poem is also on display in “A New National Anthem.”

“Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” by Ross Gay (2015)

Ross Gay and Ada Limón are both contemporary poets working in the Confessional tradition.