Peter LaBerge
Peter LaBerge is a poet, writer, and editor. He grew up in Connecticut, where he took a keen interest in poetry after contributing to his high school’s literary magazine during his freshman year. Later, as a sophomore, Peter founded The Adroit Journal in 2010, a literary publication featuring writing and art. The Adroit Journal has published forty-five issues and received over 100,000 submissions. After graduating high school in 2013, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he released the chapbooks Makeshift Cathedral (YesYes Books, 2017) and Hook (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2015). LaBerge graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 with his B.A. in English & Consumer Psychology. Furthermore, he also received a fellowship from Bucknell University’s Seminar for Undergraduate Poets. Peter’s work has since received a Pushcart Prize for Poetry. His latest initiative is Ellipsis Writing, an award-winning online high school writing, tutoring, and college advising business. He lives in New York City, where he received an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) and Writers in the Public Schools Fellow at New York University in 2022.
Gust
It begins with a question, and ends / with a plea. It begins with yes, I want / this world inside of me, and ends with prayers / in the attic. It begins with twelve forests and twelve / apostles to ravage them, and doesn’t end until the bodies are forever / sealed shut. It begins with thousands / of curious boys, and ends with snow / the color of a fingertip. It begins and ends / with a body out of walking distance, with no one / to let the hunger out. It begins like this, I was / born quiet and slow. It begins, and the question / is just as empty as a new mother’s deflated / belly. It begins with a young boy collecting / boughs, and ends with please, it is not winter / in my body. It begins and won’t end until someone has mercy / on the woodpile. It begins with winter and cannot end / as winter. It begins a game and ends / a pistol in the ground. It begins / with metaphor, and ends with a boy running naked / and bloody through the forest / of his own skin. It begins and ends / in the length a bullet can travel. / It begins with hello, and ends / with the receiver nearly touching / the floor.
Published:
2017
Length:
Literary Movements:
Contemporary
Anthology Years:
2023
Themes:
LGBTQ+ Experience
Literary Devices:
Anaphora
a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences
Imagery
visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work