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This has been a transitional summer for me. I’ve been drafting my sophomore novel, teaching, and moving from Baton Rouge to Evanston, IL, where I’ll be joining the Litowitz MA/MFA program in the Fall. In times of great upheaval, I’ve always turned to poetry, and this season has been no exception. I’ve recently read two poetry volumes that, at first glance, appear to have little to nothing in common: Imitation of Life by L. Marie Wood, and Smoking the Bible, by Chris Abani. Sometimes I suspect that the reason speculative poetry doesn’t get the respect it deserves is that it