J.P. Dancing Bear: "Island Like a Heart"

The VPR Poem of the Week is J.P. Dancing Bear’s “Island Like a Heart,” which appeared in the Spring/Summer 2004 issue (Volume V, Number 2) of Valparaiso Poetry Review.

J. P. Dancing Bear has published poems in numerous journals, including Adirondack Review, Atlanta Review, Mississippi Review, New York Quarterly, North American Review, Shenandoah, and Seattle Review. His chapbook, What Language, won the 2002 Slipstream Press Poetry Prize. Pudding House Press published another chapbook, Blue Hand, in 2002. His full-length books of poetry include Billy Lost Crow, published by Turning Point Books in 2004, and Conflicted Light, which is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry. His work also has been included in anthologies, such as In A Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (University of Iowa Press, 2005) and Red, White and Blues: Poets on the Promise of America (University of Iowa Press, 2004). He is the editor of The American Poetry Journal.

Tuesday of each week “One Poet’s Notes” highlights an exceptional work by a poet selected from the archives of Valparaiso Poetry Review with the recommendation that readers revisit it. Please check the sidebar to view the list of poets and works that have been past “Poem of the Week” selections. Additionally, readers are reminded that VPR pages are best read with the browser font preference in which they were set, 12 pt. Times New Roman, in order to guarantee the stanza alignment and the breaks of longer lines are preserved.