My poem “oh God! please stop!!” was nominated for a Best of the Net by South Florida Poetry Journal .
"Finding Obierika" [CNF] published in Teach. Write.
“Do you think Okonkwo was as good a friend to him?”
“How do you mean?”
“Obierika does all this stuff for him in the story. Is he worth it? Does Okonkwo put in the same effort?”
“Damn. That’s a good question.”
Actually, it’s a brilliant question. I’m a little annoyed that it occurred to a 15-year-old before it ever entered my mind. “There’s nothing in the text to directly address this question, which itself might be the answer, but…Hmm. I don’t know.”
“Right. I’m just wondering, based on what you’ve said, who is taking care of him? Like, who is Obierika’s Obierika?”
Things like this keep me up at night…
My creative nonfiction piece “Finding Obierika” distills a significant lesson learned from a decade of teaching Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and was just published in the Fall/Winter 2026 edition of Teach. Write.
“Stage Proxemics” nominated the Best of the Net
My creative nonfiction piece “Stage Proxemics” was nominated for the Best of the Net by Pangyrus!
Five poems published in Rawhead
Ming Smith, America Seen Through Stars and Stripes, New York City, New York Painted, 1976, WikiArt
I’m proud to have five poems appearing in the latest issue of Rawhead Journal.
“there goes the neighborhood”
“exposure therapy” (previously published in Rigorous)
“J.B. explains why he left the rally”
“if her father had but spit in her face…”
“when asked about white feminism”
"Dilemma Tales" [CNF] published in Always Crashing
“If I take my fucking anxiety and depression meds, I’ll harm my baby. But if I don’t take the fucking meds, I won’t be able to fucking function and take care of this pregnancy. It’s a…what’s it called? A catch-22? Yeah. I’m in a real fucking catch-22. Sigh. The fuck should I do?”
My experimental creative nonfiction piece “Dilemma Tales” was published in Always Crashing.
Part reading, part test, part a bunch of different stories…it’s a whole thing.
Five poems in A Thin Slice of Anxiety
Five poems have been published in A Thin Slice of Anxiety.
being considerate
“Lord, we know what we are but know not / What we may be.”
she never made the connection
an open letter to the man clipping his fingernails in this restaurant
the things you don’t admit
Two poems in Bicoastal Review
My poems “when asked why I will never be poet laureate of [redacted]” and “no” appear in the latest issue of Bicoastal Review . Both poems are accompanied by a reading.
Two Poems in Jacket2's William Blake Folio
Two poems from Promises to Keep— “self-fulfilling” and “the prophet laments his colleagues”— appear in Jacket2’s “The imagination is not a state”: A folio in honor of William Blake, edited by K Prevallet.
These two poems are drawn from Promises to Keep (Wayfarer Books, 2026): a narrative in persona poems voicing the words of The Prophet, who lives in our present socio-political realities but is fueled by the same fiery impulse toward justice and reform of the 9th and 8th century BCE prophets of the Hebrew Bible after whom he is inspired. These prophets include Ezekiel, whose visions were famously interpreted by William Blake in word and image. As a budding poet, Songs of Innocence and of Experience was one of the first collections I purchased in college, inspiriting my writing throughout the years. Despite their boldness, Ezekiel, Blake, and The Prophet all question the nature of their Call to creative service in the world. All three also had their mental faculties called into question by contemporaries and future voices. Perhaps this is the cost of tapping into the unseen, numinous wellspring as a source of inspiration.
"waking with nightmares" published in Vita Poetica
“The Hypocrites address Dante,” Gustave Dore [Dante's Inferno]
"waking with nightmares" written after a section of G.K. Chesterton’s book The Everlasting Man and is now published in Vita Poetica along with a reading of the poem.
It’s a little dark, but that’s kind of the point. . .
“…it is not the stones, / But the child’s mound—" nominated for a Best of the Net
“…it is not the stones, / But the child’s mound—" (which is a golden shovel from Robert Frost’s “Home Burial”) was nominated for a Best of the Net by Flight: A Literary Sampler
“Reach out your hand…” [CNF] published in Southern Humanities Review
"Reach out your hand..." is a nonfiction piece which braids Caravaggio's painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Elizabeth Ohlson Wallin's photo The Doubter, sexuality and gender identity, theology, basic survival, and high school hallways, all while Nickel Creek's "Doubting Thomas" plays in the background.
Very proud to have it appear in Southern Humanities Review.
Two Poems in 88 Unashamed Black Mental Health Stories (A Blacklandia Anthology)
My two poems “response time” & “Death Still Checks in on Me” (after a poem by the wonderful and talented Maya Williams) appear in 88 Unashamed Black Mental Health Stories (A Blacklandia Anthology).
Review of Promises to Keep from New England Literary News
Faith, love, and anger in Matthew E. Henry’s new collection
“The day of reckoning / has arrived,” writes Matthew E. Henry in his new collection, Promises To Keep (Wayfarer). That day is each day, and this book serves as a reckoning itself, with the contradictions, the inequity, the many and varied iterations of violence and hate. Wrath and love hold hands in these poems, many of them voiced by a man who’s been called to be a prophet. …
Read the rest of Nina MacLaughlin’s lovely review of Promises to Keep in New England Literary News through the link below!
“tohu va-vohu" published in Plough
“tohu va-vohu” exists at the intersection of a Biblical creation narrative and the destruction of Black communities.
It’s now published in Plough Quarterly
Voices in Verse Coffee House (NHCSB May 19, 2026)
Two video clips from my reading at The Voices in Verse Poetry Coffee House at New Heights Charter School of Brockton on May 19, 2026.
“Lady Daedalus” was first published in my chapbook Dust & Ashes (Californios Press, 2020).
“reflection” was first published in The Decolonial Passage and nominated for a Best of the Net.
Both are ekphrastic poems included in my forthcoming collection Selling the World (Shanti Arts Publishing) .
Three poems and an Essay in Public School Poetry
I am excited to have three poems published in Public School Poetry, a litmag with a really cool style: accepted work is accompanied by a “five paragraph essay” (interpreted broadly/wildly) by another accepted author.
Thus, my three poems—“J.B. sings a new song,” “a simple misunderstanding,” & “an open letter to the white woman offended by my use of ‘The N-word’”.— is accompanied by an essay by poet Kristie L. Williams, while my essay—”Mother of Exiles”— accompanies the work of Sally Rosen Kindred.
“on hearing Luke Comb’s cover of ‘Fast Car’ for the first time, over the P.A., as students walked into my class”
Thimble Literary Magazine has published a weird little ‘sonnet’ of mine entitled “on hearing Luke Comb’s cover of ‘Fast Car’ for the first time, over the P.A., as students walked into my class,” which is about…well, you can guess.
New position at American Poetry Journal
I am pleased to announce that I am joining American Poetry Journal as one of the new poetry editors. Send some work our way!
"The Appointment" [flash] published in DEREGINALD
My dialogue driven, flash fiction piece “The Appointment” was published in the latest issue of DREGINALD. It's an increasingly chaotic mediation on the history of the word “placebo” among other things.
“Digging up Poetry With Matthew E. Henry” - The Cypress, Brookline High School
“Digging up poetry with Matthew E. Henry”
Sophia Neer, Staff Writer • February 3, 2026
For Poet Matthew E. Henry, inspiration comes from every aspect of his life. Whether it’s a couple arguing in a restaurant, people watching at Cafe Nero, or visiting art galleries across Massachusetts, he harnesses his creativity everywhere, including from other poems.
Henry visited the high school’s Craft of Writing class on Jan. 8 in Rm. 371. During his PTO-sponsored visit, Henry shared some examples of Golden Shovel poetry. In a Golden Shovel poem, the last word of each line can be strung together to form a line from an existing piece. Additionally, he spoke about his work, creative process and inspiration and how he encourages students to harness their own creativity wherever they see fit…