黑料福利社

The Yakima Coffeehouse Poets, a nonprofit formed in 2014 to represent the interests of poets and poetry lovers in Central Washington, is the organization behind this monthly poetry column, which runs the first Saturday of every month. It features inland Washington poets and poems selected from the monthly Yakima Coffeehouse Poets (YCP) open mic and the poems selected for yearly YCP poetry contest chapbook.聽

Learn more about the organization at and .

About the poet

Otter Fisher is a poet and psychology student at Heritage University, graduating with a BA in summer 2026. They have been writing poetry for more than a decade. Also, a painter and printmaker, Fisher is passionate about the arts in all their forms and strives to create a better world through both their art and academia. Fisher is excited to share their first published poem, 鈥淭he Goathead,鈥� a reflection on the small hurts people carry throughout their lives.

"The Goat Head"

shaped, faint

unfair unknown

hidden in carpet fibers

of the family home. all I鈥檝e ever known

these weeds

in the garden

on the ditch

blunt, brazen

amidst mundanity

abundant, slim pains

barbed like wire

like words

formed the holes in my shoes

layers of blunt peaks in their wake

nothing I could do could fix this for you

could take these moments away

but I鈥檒l scrape my shoes

before i reach the door

change them, on the porch

and try

to not contribute

to the goat head ridden floor

鈥斅燨tter Fisher