alina pleskova

@alinapleskova

poet-in-residence of the astral realm / fog aficionado / Toska (Deep Vellum, 2023) / 🥨 Philly IG: @alina_pleskova alinapleskova.com

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alina pleskova@alinapleskova· 1d

joinnnn us for the August edition of the Track Changes reading/listening/conversation series at Solar Myth, ft. two stellar poets: @isaacpickell.bsky.social + @oliviamuenz.bsky.social 🎶 🔸 advance tickets: august-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com 🔸 newsletter: track-changes-series.beehiiv.com

Track Changes
A reading, listening, and conversation series where writers chat about their favorite records
August 25
featuring
Olivia Muenz
Isaac Pickell
hosted by
Alina Pleskova

Solar Myth
1131 S Broad St
Philly

august-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· 10d

Alice Notley

WHEN I WAS ALIVE
When I was alive
I wore a thin dress bare
shoulders the heat of the white sun
and my black thin
dress did envelop me
till I was a shell
gladly and breeze
ruffled and filled
against good legs
the translucent fabric and my heart transparent
as I walk towards Marion's and Helena's as my
skirt fill empties and flls with cooling air
[1977]

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· 15d

finally we can bring this canonical text to the cinema

The Tiger by Nael, age 6
From They're Singing a Song in Iheir Rocket
The tiger
He destroyed his cage
Yes
YES
The tiger is out

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Jul 6

here comes the July edition of Track Changes, ft. Philly gem Zach Blackwood & @gion.bsky.social, visiting from Denver! 🗞️ tell you all about it in the newsletter: track-changes-series.beehiiv.com/p/track-chan... 🎟️ tickets tickets tickets : july-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com

Flyer for the Track Changes reading, listening, & conversation series on July 28 featuring poets Zach Blackwood and Gion Davis at Solar Myth in Philly, hosted by Alina Pleskova. Tickets and more info at july-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Jun 5

this absolute nightmare blunt rotation of investors (maybe that’s redundant?) includes Rupi Kaur lmao

n Monday, Phia—the AI-powered shopping app founded by Phoebe Gates (daughter of Bill) and
Sophia Kianni—announced that they raised $35.5 million in series A funding.

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Jun 3

the Way in Which i got so excited that a hot dog situation is happening in my neighborhood ….. & then realized it was a fancy dog daycare

Front facade of Oggie’s Doggie’s building with a red and yellow umbrella out front

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 22

me: sorry for the late response, i got caught up doing research the research in question:

Screenshot from a Philly Inquirer article from 2024: 30th Street station flip board will return in 2027 - but with no clickety-clack

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 21

inside me are two wolves

Cher tweet: Whats going on with mycareer

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 20

‘no’ written in small letters inside a giant red heart

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 20

was reading Harpers in a waiting room & came across this re: data center opposition. the people are, ofc, way out ahead of most politicians. this is NOT a minority view; we can't be duped into hallucinating (like, ahem, LLMs) that immense backlash doesn't exist, that people don’t perceive the harm

According to the research project Data Center Watch, there are now 142 groups like Czarnik's operating across twenty-four states. Some have been highly effective. A review of public records by the climate-news outlet Heatmap found that at least twenty-five data-center projects were canceled in 2025 due to local push-back, and that ninety-nine more were being contested as of January. This resistance is significant in its own right, but it is also the most visible manifestation of growing skepticism toward the promises of Al. Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center have found that half of Americans are more concerned than excited

about the increased use of Al in daily life; a similar proportion believe that it will worsen our ability to think creatively and form meaningful relation-ships; and Americans are more likely to believe that Al will have a negative effect on education and the economy than a positive one.
Politicians and Al evangelists have pitched the rapid construction of new data centers as a prerequisite to an "AI revolution" that will unleash unprecedented technological advances, such as the discovery of solutions to climate change or a cure for cancer. For local communities, however, this revolution means crippling electricity bills, a threatened water supply, and ceaseless noise and pollution from data centers' diesel. powered backup generators. These fears have driven thousands of citizens to pack town halls deep into the niht to vice their opposition,

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 19

from an interview Waters did with Paul Holdengraber in 2019…. i love this sm

JW: Yes, yes! This was around 1965-1966, and she had just one poem that had come out. She just died; I knew her forever and ever. I knew her girlfriend, Molly, who was great too. They had this bookshop where you were allowed to be mean to the customers. It was really fun. These people would come in and say,
"Do you have Valley of the Dolls?" Molly would yell, "Get out! We don't carry that book!" If anyone said anything bad about Norman Mailer, they would snatch the book out of the person's hand and throw them out... The customer was always wrong. Mary, at that time, was really dark. She would be in the back chain-smoking in a peacoat when it was 100 degrees out. She obviously accrued an amazing career and had great success, and I loved her and I got along with her great.
She was very different than people think about her. She was no sweet little earth mother. She was fun and really lovely, but she did not suffer fools in any way. She had little patience for people that weren't very smart. I used to kid with her about crawling around the woods talking to animals, that I was going to call the police if I saw her. I loved her very much.

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 18

stoked for the next Track Changes event on June 2 with Emma Copley Eisenberg & Monika Ostrowska! 🎟️ & more info: june-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com 🗞️ newsletter with misc. reflections & playlist from the last event: track-changes-series.beehiiv.com/p/track-chan...

Track Changes
A listening, reading, & conversation series where writers chat about their favorite records

June 2, 7:30 PM
Solar Myth
1131 S Broad St
Philly

Featuring:
Emma Copley Eisenberg
Monika Ostrowska

Hosted by:
Alina Pleskova

$5-$15 sliding scale (Eventbrite or at door)
June-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 5

🪩 one week from today in Philly! the first Track Changes reading/listening/convo series event in its beautiful new home at Solar Myth, ft. the stellar Kirwyn Sutherland (Philly) + Steffan Tripplett (Pittsburgh) reading & discussing their fave music join us! 🎟️ may-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· May 1

extended lunch break May Day dapple ft. banh mi in the backyard

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 23

the lady will have the pizza soup

deranged & suspiciojx packet of liquid that reads

READY TO HEAT & EAT
MICROWAVE POUCH - 90 SECONDS

Pizza Soup
Pepperoni, tomato & cheese
GLUTEN FREE INGREDIENTS

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 21

mónica teresa ortiz, from book of provocations

poem for the Stridentists I
"Life's just a scream that hangs from my neck / like a goodbye"
— Manuel Maples Arce, translated by KM Cascia
the weather is ecstatic // these days // like fuck // the farmer's almanac // which didn't account // for oil or cryptomining // and not even in Isaac Asimov's worst // nightmares did AI exist // the way we will know it // tomorrow but it's not //story time right now // let us wander underneath
I/ the Aquarius moon // arm in arm // through weariness // the theory is that we are // living through collapse // if I may paraphrase // with tactile clarity // the world isn't ending // but empire is in decline // and the nostalgic heart // of whiteness cant imagine // retroactive energy Il coming for their necks // with force // and automatic brutality // the pastoral poems are no longer // about loving rhododendrons // but about sinking prairies // and wildfires rocketing // through our grasslands // climate change writes its own operas // and I am just a poet // experiencing the shift // barefoot in my father's garden // pulling weeds out // one by one
40

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 20

i’ve been neglectful in posting dapple reports, but 4/20 is a great a day as any

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 13

i wish to only be reachable via rose phone

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 10

felt a lotta joy watching I Love Boosters… an organized labor romp with a delightful cast & fits also was yesterday years old when i learned that Boots Riley has a daughter named Alina 🥲

Boots Riley in conversation at I Love Boosters screening at PFS in Philly

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 9

mentally, emotionally, politically, & spiritually here

Snoopy under a blanket with beverage slightly out of grabbing distance

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 9

in this the Month of Poetry (jk it’s every month), enjoying the hell out of @tomsnarsky.bsky.social’s newest

POEM IN THE DARK
The question isn't how history will see you, but when. An ice cube thrown
into a lake of blood. IfI
beat back my human need
I will receive a reward
a styrofoam ball with teeth marks in the shape of equators, lesser meridians the free cd in the back
of the book. My dead face looks just like my alive face, give or take a few markings, the cast of sun on a die. I'm not trying to lie to you, it's more at or through

cover of Mountebank by Tom Snarsky - Broken Sleep Books

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 7

microdosing poetry during the workday— Amie Zimmerman 🌹

Walter Benjamin
one could say have faith & mean
we're dead anyway
we are a messianic creature-
meaning eludes me too
above silence there is work
the branching word obliterated by its sentence
reform is the site of reified harm the horror of this continuing unchecked into acquiescence
— where is the fulfillment of the material promise are we still waiting for any day

entry
there is some confusion about the use of we. how it started. damp woods are a we. calico cats are a we. driving to Las Cruces in the naugahyde backseat windows down in summer is a we. we is automatically historical, yes, and becoming the number of bosses we've had now that we're never not begging; the pivot of love from that which is seen to that which is eaten. now is as good a time as any to learn to graft. forsythia is a we. dianthus is a we. cotoneaster whose berries feed the robin is a we. viburnum drowning in aphids is a we. spiraea a we. crocosmia a we. hellebores a we. cultivate anger as a way to direct the piss away from our own feet. aging out again. again into the thickness of life beyond young hope. pull up the floor-boards. naming is a function of we. we are still in love and attest to existence as all that is. we woke from the dream of our feet battered by rolling rocks in the tide, our bodies arching into the forest. ask how far how far how far back.

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 2

sorry i can't even process these moon mission situations because i'm catching up on this information from 2021 & need to block off time to cackle for the rest of the week

Newsweek screenshot:
Toni Morrison Hated ‘Hamilton’ So Much She Funded a Play About Lin-Manuel Miranda

Jun 17, 2021 at 09:31 AM EDT
By Emma Nolan
Senior Reporter

Toni Morrison is said to have hated Hamilton so much that she helped to finance a play called The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda.

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Apr 2

just want to show you what happened after this skeet, 11 months later … the internet is still good sometimes!!!

Alina in mercurial pacific northwest sunlight

Alina and Raena drinking wine on the deck of our residency home

Gorgeous Carolyn Moore Writers House in Tigard, OR

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Mar 30

the next Track Changes is coming up on April 28, ft. @candicewuehle.bsky.social & @raenainthemorning.bsky.social!!! ft. readings, conversation, & tunes chosen by these terrific writers. come let your spring fever co-mingle with ours 🌷🌷🌷 april-2026-track-changes.eventbrite.com

Track Changes: Raena Shirali & Candice Wuehle

A listening, reading, and conversation series where writers chat about their favorite records.

April 28 at 7PM
Hosted by Alina Pleskova
Pen & Pencil Club (upstairs) - 1522 Latimer Street, Philly

$5-15 Sliding Scale (Eventbrite or at door)

Track Changes is a monthly series where writers chat about their favorite records. Each event features one Philly-based writer and one out-of-town writer. Join us for a night of music, readings, and conversation at the Pen & Pencil Club—the oldest continuously operating press club in the U.S.

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Mar 24

my mind — residency week three, in a screenshot

Yes, deer absolutely love radish leaves and will often eat them, along with the roots, if left in the garden, particularly in fall and winter. They consider the greens to be a high-protein treat, sometimes preferring them over other forage, especially after a frost makes them sweeter. • Mossy Oak +3
• Preferred Food: Deer often devour radish tops before other brassicas like turnips.

Yes, deer absolutely love eating radish tops and will likely consume them if left in the garden, particularly in the fall and winter. Deer, especially white-tailed deer, find the leaves highly palatable and often consume them as a primary food source when other forage becomes scarce.
• Mossy Oak +2

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Mar 6

in & out of baltimore like a blurry lightning bolt ⚡️ tysm @neonpajamas.bsky.social for having me (& redoing everyone’s bios as found poems, & all the stellar readers) & a beautiful excuse to see friends in a blink—have fun everybody, remember to hydrate, happy for you or sorry that happened, etc 🦢💕

Alina reading at Old Major in Baltimore for Neon Night Mic AWP Offsite

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Mar 3

honestly, same

Mannequin head hitched to the back of a garbage truck

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Feb 25

Baltimore is the sister city of Philly in my mind & heart—so, so pleased to be here exactly ONE week from today, with this dream blunt rotation (it’s one of those ultra-long ones, okay) 🌆☁️

Neon Night Mic
AWP Offsite Reading
Hosted by [neonpajamas]
Alina Stefanescu
Michael Martone
Nicky Beer
Johannes Goransson
Katie Jean Shinkle
David Simmons
Kenyatta Rogers
Matt Bell
Jon Woodward
Jose Hernandez Diaz
Annelyse Gelman
Chen Chen
Alina Pleskova
C.T. Salazar
David Wojciechowski
Henry Goldkamp
Grant Wamack
Old Major
900S. Carey St.
Baltimore, MD
Wednesday, March 4
Doors: 6:00pm
Readings: 7:00pm-10:00pm

alina pleskova@alinapleskova· Feb 23

currently reading & loving