boy maybe
poems
W. J. Lofton
- 51
- achingly
- eloquent
- poems
- from
- a
- young
- Cave
- Canem
- fellow:
- W.
- J.
- Lofton's
- verses
- explore
- Black
- queer
- Southern
- identity,
- grief,
- love,
- and
- intimacy
- while
- enduring
- and
- witnessing
- unfreedom
- in
- AmericaW.
- J.
- Lofton
- writes
- vivid,
- accessible
- poems
- that
- channel
- the
- energy,
- urgency,
- ambitions,
- joys,
- and
- sorrows
- of
- a
- young
- Black
- queer
- artist.
- They
- are
- about
- love
- and
- flirtation,
- sweet
- tea
- and
- hot
- sauce,
- God
- and
- family,
- life
- and
- death,
- police
- brutality
- and
- extrajudicial
- killings.
- His
- verses
- honor
- some
- of
- the
- young
- lives
- extinguished
- by
- these
- killings—Breonna
- Taylor,
- Kendrick
- Johnson,
- Ahmaud
- Arbery.
- He
- also
- pays
- tribute
- to
- some
- of
- the
- towering
- figures
- of
- Black
- culture
- who
- have
- come
- before
- him—Richard
- Pryor,
- Assata
- Shakur.
- His
- style
- is
- endlessly
- propulsive,
- informed
- by
- some
- of
- the
- Harlem
- Renaissance
- greats—Langston
- Hughes,
- Gwendolyn
- Brooks—but
- also
- transforming
- that
- rich
- tradition
- for
- the
- present day.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
