In the past couple of years, I have written a number of poems in an old Spanish form called a glose or glosa. This form takes four lines from an existing poem, and each of those four lines becomes the final line of a ten-line stanza. The sixth, ninth, and tenth lines of each stanza rhyme. One of the reasons I love this form is because it allows for a kind of dialogue with the original poem. I have used lines from very well-known poems like Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Elizabeth Bishop's "In the Waiting Room," as well as lesser-known poems like the one I have included in my portfolio which takes lines from contemporary poet Vijay Seshadri's poem, "Cliffhanging". I love the way working in form is like solving a puzzle; it allows me to explore emotions while adhering to technical strictures and this creates tension I find satisfying. I hope readers do, too!

Sometimes I have ideas that don't seem quite right for a poem, so I use the essay form. Most recently, I have enjoyed the hybrid form of the flash essay -- usually around 1000 words or fewer. 

Girls Like Us was a difficult book to write, as it delves into my most intimate and darkest places. But it was also liberating to put the poems out in the world, allowing me to move on from the trauma they describe. Beth Spires says of the poems, “Hazen fearlessly explores self and psyche, her own and those of other women, focusing on ‘this inward-turning darkness’ as she grapples with addiction and recovery, psychological and sexual assault, and a culture of misogyny.’ It is my hope that readers will connect to the poems and the idea that we all deserve to be seen and heard. 

As the title suggests, Chaos Theories draws on science in many of its poems, using the language and systems of the natural world as metaphor for the emotional world. Richard Peabody calls me, “a spy in the house of science,” and Alan Shapiro says, “Chaos Theories refashions insights and principles from the hard sciences into metaphors for what it means and feels like to be alive and conscious, needy and loving, in a universe ruled by time and change.” The poems here chronicle my early years of motherhood, the challenges of divorce, and my reckoning with my own childhood experiences. 

In addition to my poems and short essays which largely examine my own experiences, I do a lot of writing about other artists in essays and articles. I have had the pleasure of writing pieces for BMoreArt which allow me to explore the many great creative institutions in our city. I have written about the Baltimore School for the Arts, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Alex Cooper Auctioneers, TRIBE, CPM Gallery, and others.