Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin: The editors Philip Cushway and Michael Warr first proposed this book of poetry in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, and as they were putting the book together the Black Lives Matter movement took off, so the editors redirected the focus. Each poet provides a statement of her/his evolution and purpose as a poet, followed by one poem. The editors chose an image to go with each poem. In choosing top, dynamic poets, and providing “historical and cultural underpinnings from which these poems arose,” the editors created a book of art accessible to poetry readers as well as non-traditional poetry readers. The editors noted that many of the poets cited Gwendolyn Brooks as their influence and mentor. I noticed that many of the poets began publishing with Cave Canem, which makes me infinitely proud of writers who make a home for voices otherwise not heard. For an anthology, 18 women poets to 25 men poets could be improved, but it’s better than most. The poets, also, are across generations. Too many favorite poems for me to call out a favorite, but I do tend to gravitate to the Emmett Till poems.
The nerve of it: poems new and selected, by Lynn Emanuel. My favorite thing about this book is that Lynn mixes up old poems with new in order to make for a new reading experience. That’s the first I’ve seen this done, and it works beautifully. Lynn creates various projects, writing poems vastly different from one another. My favorites: “inside gertrude stein” and “Halfway through the book I’m writing.” I studied the opening lines of each poem to understand how Lynn pulls us in:
(a) In the cooking pot my aunt's long spoon pets the lamb's
In the cooking pot [INCITING INCIDENT] my aunt's long spoon pets [ACTION VERB] the lamb's [UNEXPECTED, TENSION]
(b) in the teary windows, the woodlands heave
in the teary windows [INCITING INCIDENT; METAPHOR] the woodlands heave [ACTION VERB, TENSION]
Dear All, by Maggie Anderson. Favorite poems: the title poem, and “The Sidney Lanier Best Western Motel in Gainevsille, Georgia, I think of the great Polish poet” – because what I learn from each poem actually changes my life. This is what the poets Judy Grahn, Pat Parker, and Adrienne Rich did for me when I was in my 20s, and here Maggie is doing it for me now. Wow.