These poems are part of a special section of the Mid-Atlantic Review, Celebrating Black History, and selected by editors Khadijah Ali-Coleman, Carolivia Herron, and...
End of Summer
As she steps off the bus, I notice dried tracks
on her cheeks.
The sun was out today, waving
through a cool autumn breeze
with nowhere...
Follow the Directions
It was the blue-covered cookbook she reached for every time.
She couldn’t remember when she had received it,
wondered if she had borrowed...
lady dayin burgundy and blueher voice jazzesunlocks the mindyou wonder what follows timenotes her music comes aliveher voice oh you willshe sweatingly teasesblue piping...
Where Vessels Go to Die
Did you think of shipyards, things that sail the seasWhen you heard vessels- I am thinking of the gloriousUruli, peepa,kodam…Grand,...
POULTICEWhen you have looked elsewherefor answers—the spider’s web,the empty hive, the rotted log,beneath the unturned stone—ask yourself what you haveneglected. Do not lamentthat what...
Violin Plays
She holds on tight to bow and strings, yet,it is her body, curving and rounding,on inner caverns that gives musicits beginnings: Soaked in...