'Poetic Visions 2026' Will run from September 12 through September 26 with an opening reception on Saturday, September 12, from 6-8pm.

Over the month of July, 2026, True Grit Art Gallery put out a Call For Poetry to local poets throughout southern New England, inviting submissions for our upcoming Poetic Visions art exhibition. We received an overwhelming response, with over 50 talented poets sharing their work. Selecting just five poems from this remarkable pool was an incredibly grueling and challenging task, but we’re thrilled with the eclectic and inspiring pieces we've ultimately chosen. These poems will serve as the foundation for visual artists to create original artworks, each assigned through a random lottery process to ensure an equitable distribution for the exhibit. Join us for the opening reception of Poetic Visions 2026 on Saturday, September 12, from 6-8 PM, where the selected poets will be invited to read their poems, bringing their words to life alongside the stunning artworks they inspired. The exhibition will run through September 26, 2026, showcasing the powerful synergy of poetry and visual art. We invite poets and artists to participate in this unique collaboration again next year!

Chosen poetry for ‘Poetic Visions 2026’ 

We received so many wonderful poems this year from over 50 submitting authors, all of which were a joy to read and reflect upon. Please know that this was never meant to be a competition. The poems we’ve selected— or chose not to select— should reflect no bearing on the poets’ writing capabilities. We would certainly never claim the authority to make that judgment. At the end of the day, our decision reflects our efforts to predict the most eclectic and uncommon variety of visual art responses possible. It was extremely difficult to pick just five. Nevertheless, the poems we've chosen for our second poetry-inspired exhibition are:

Polar Bear
​by Carol Hobbs

Carol Hobbs is a poet from Newfoundland who teaches high school English and creative writing in Hudson, Massachusetts. Her first poetry collection, New-found-land, published by Main Street Rag Press, received the New England PEN Discovery Prize, and Honorable Mention for the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize through the New England Poetry Club. Hobbs’s work appears in The Antigonish Review, Appalachian Heritage, Cider Press Review, The Fiddlehead, Lily Poetry Review, and The Malahat Review, among other publications. Solstice chose her poem “Polar Bear” for the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize for 2022.
 ​

The Last Dog That Died Unburied Herself
by Jenifer Browne Lawrence

Jenifer Browne Lawrence is the author of two poetry collections: Grayling (Perugia Press), and One Hundred Steps from Shore (Blue Begonia Press). Awards include the Perugia Press Prize, the Orlando Poetry Prize, and the James Hearst Poetry Prize. Recent work appears in About Place Journal; Pithead Chapel, Inflectionist Review, Split Rock Review, and Water~Stone Review. Lawrence lives and writes in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.
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Self Portrait: An Inventory
by Kristin J. Kelley

​Kristin J. Kelley is a Boston-based poet and editor whose work explores grief, family inheritance, and the quiet imprints of loss and survival. She organizes and hosts a poetry reading series that raises funds for local charities. Her recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Arnoldia, Anti-Heroin Chic, Sky Island Journal, Thimble Literary Magazine, and elsewhere. You can find her on Instagram at @violethammerslydetectiveagency.

Marsh Behind Chalker Beach
by Ed Gaudet

Ed Gaudet is a poet and healthcare entrepreneur from Hanover, MA. His work has appeared in The Southwest Review, The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), Nixes Mate Review, Blood & Bourbon, The Inflectionist Review, the Fourth River, Slipstream, Kitchen Table Quarterly, Naugatuck River Review, Tar River Poetry, Panoply, and Burningword Literary Journal.
 

You Wouldn't Recognize Me Anymore
by Robert Demerjian​

My name is Robert Demerjian and I have been a Boston Public Schools teacher for the past 27 years. I grew up in Boston but have been living in Plymouth for the past 22 years. I am a musician and songwriter who, once upon a time, would take part in the open-mic scene in Cambridge and Boston. I have been writing poems since 1994 and have self published 4
collections of my work. The poems I submitted for the second Poetic Vision are all from those collections. They represent the more surreal and fictional side of my writing, a style I enjoy as it allows me to use my creativity and conjure up unusual images and situations through
words. 
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