As I write this, it’s April 11, 2021, just over a year since the pandemic changed life as all of us know it. Although 2020 demanded attention in so many aspects, I look back on the past year as one that somehow, despite the darkness, yielded valuable insights I hope I remember when I’m feeling down or “less than” or experiencing imposter syndrome. In short, while I may not have had many editorial acceptances, the ones I did have were especially meaningful.

One of those was being named UCity Review’s “Noteworthy Poet” for the journal’s December 2020 issue. Two of my poems appeared in Issue #15 (December 2017) and it was an honor to be asked to share more work and completely unexpected for them to select me as their “noteworthy.”

Here’s what they say in the intro to the seven poems of mine they ran in Issue 21:

noteworthy

In each issue, the editors choose a writer they would like to bring
to the readers’ attention.

In this issue, Sarah Carey is highlighted.

Sarah Carey’s poems establish their self-assured territory and invite us in: “Most days, I skirt my karst terrain, / mindful of sinking…” They say, listen, it gets this bad but circumstances still present the sublime: “Knowing blood by sense, if not by sight, / how scrubbed steps still whisper to souls”. And they are filled with insight: “Yet something not akin to memory sparks my skin to burn within”. When they ask you to come in you will answer yes.

To have seven poems in one issue of anything is a first for me, as is being named anyone’s noteworthy anything, so this was a treat, and a truly gratifying way to end a dark year. I’d be honored if you’d take a read.