Now out from Black Warrior Review (2020)
January 2023 Update: I’ve received a $10,000 grant from the Café Royal Cultural Foundation to finish The Atomic Sonnets as a full-length collection. Read more about the announcement here.
Author’s Note: In 2020, I wanted to make 𝟐𝟎 𝐀𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐬 free & available online, as to reach as many people as possible in the time of the pandemic, as we were sheltering in-place. So much love to Black Warrior Review for making this happen. This chapbook is part of a larger project that will be a full-length collection in the future. (And check out endnotes for further explanations on the properties of each element, which I’ve incorporate into the sonnets themselves).
Further Selections from The Atomic Sonnets series
“36Kr :: The Hidden One” Ecotone
“80Hg :: Liquid Silver” Ecotone (via Project MUSE)
"1H :: You’d Be Dead {I’m Simply the Best} & "96Cm :: {You Just Want Attention}” Electric Literature
“8O :: { Every Bond You Break}” Salamander
“Who knew that one could feel sorry for an electron, be smitten with the bad-boy toxicity of Fluorine, commiserate with the unstable loneliness of Cesium, or swoon over the sensuality of Gallium?… With its tour-de-force attention to detail, its enticing sounds and rhythms and its clever and astute references, 20 Atomic Sonnets leaves the reader wanting more. And hopefully with many more elements in the periodic table, this set of sonnets will only be the beginning.”— Rhino Poetry
“I wanted to review this collection of sonnets because I wanted to fall in love. I wanted to fall in love with the sonnet again and I did… In 20 Atomic Sonnets, the unique structure coupled with the author’s use of slant and embedded rhyme creates the sonnet aesthetic without overpowering the text…Ben-Oni pays homage to nineties metal poets by relating certain elements to groups like Nirvana, STP, and Bon Jovi.” —Interstellar Flight Press