Collateral Journal

It’s National Poetry Month, and humans continue to learn about their world by making metaphors, whether they appreciate that reality or not. In this new poem from Ryan Calo, the idea of being notified, of knowing, is opened up and heard, like birdsong, like the bullets, like the morning news.

‘Notifications’ is a poem about waking up, an ostensibly peaceful activity. The belligerent language describing the natural world aims to foreshadow the chaos of contemporary life. The frenetic birds are waiting for us in our phones the moment we turn them on. —Ryan Calo

Ryan Calo is a law professor and amateur poet in Seattle, Washington, where he serves on the board of the literary organization Hugo House. His poetry appears in Wayfarer Magazine and The Stonefence Review.