Florida Bards Anthology 2026 (Local Gems Press) released earlier this summer, and my poem “Time Travel” found its way into the collection’s pages. The poem was inspired by a video of deer running on an empty beach during the COVID pandemic, reportedly in the Florida panhandle.
Florida Bards Anthology is available.
About Florida Bards Anthology
Florida Bards Anthology showcases poets who are currently residing in or have lived in Florida. Its events feature readings by poets and an opportunity to connect with the poetry community of the state.
About Local Gems Press
Local Gems Press is dedicated to providing quality verse written by poets from all walks of life as well as other entertaining, inspirational, and educational writings. They believe in the power of the written word and feel that writing can be used to change the world for the better.
They are a small press based on Long Island, New York, and have published poets from over 10 countries and over 30 different states, with an ever-growing audience.
More Poetry
Want to explore more of my work? You can find some here, including a link to SoundCloud, where I’m slowly populating published poems in audio format.
Explore Florida poets at the Florida State Poets Association bookstore. Titles include offerings from Florida-based poets like Denise Duhamel and Carol Frost as well as member poets, like my friend and fellow Northwest Florida chapter member Katherine Nelson-Born’s award-winning Bone Geometry. You might also try Awake in the Sacred Night, a collaboration of my pals Lori Zavada and Claire Masey, a collection that embraces “the mystical and mundane.” Also available is an eclectic collection of works from Emerald Coast Writers, Emerald Coast Review XXIII.
Check out Poetry Society of Tennessee’s bookstore here and see why we say #poetryisalive in Tennessee. Helen of Troy, 1993, by Maria Zoccola (named Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and NPR and selected as a The New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice) and Stitches, by Sarah Cummins Small, were recently named finalists for the 2026 Tennessee Poetry Book of the Year. If you enjoy water color and ekphrastic poetry, check out Dragons and Chiggers by Howard Carman, Sr., (the painter) and Howard Carman, Jr. (the poet).
(Click covers below to discover more about these and other offerings.)
Want another anthology? Try What the House Knows (Terrapin Books), thoughtfully edited by Diane Lockward and chock full of moving works.