PENGUIN BOOKS

HIP LOGIC

TERRANCE HAYES was the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award for Muscular Music, his debut collection of poems. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina and holds degrees from Coker College, where he studied painting and English, and the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied poetry. His work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies of emerging writers, including American poetry: The Next Generation and Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers. He teaches in the Creative Writing Department at Carnegie Mellon University and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife and daughter.

THE NATIONAL POETRY SERIES

The National Poetry Series was established in 1978 to ensure the publication of five poetry books annually through participating publishers. Publication is funded by the late James A. Michener, the Copernicus Society of America, Edward J. Piszek, the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Tiny Tiger Foundation.

2001 COMPETITION WINNERS

BETSY BROWN of Minnesota, Year of Morphines Chosen by George Garrett, to be published by Louisiana State University Press

DAVID GROFF of New York, Theory of Devolution Chosen by Mark Doty, to be published by University of Illinois Press

TERRANCE HAYES of Pennsylvania, Hip Logic Chosen by Cornelius Eady, to be published by Viking Penguin

ELIZABETH ROBINSON of California, Pure Descent Chosen by Fanny Howe, to be published by Sun & Moon Press

RUTH L. SCHWARTZ of California, Edgewater Chosen by Jane Hirshfield, to be published by HarperCollins Publishers

Title Page

Copyright Page

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First published in Penguin Books 2002

Page 93 constitutes an extension of this copyright page.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Hayes, Terrance.
Hip logic / Terrance Hayes.
p. cm.—(National poetry series)

eISBN : 978-1-101-17729-7

I. Title. II. Series.
PS3558.A8378 H57 2002
811’.54—dc21
2002020871

Paul

Dedication

For Yona and Ua, my points of Light

“Please,” he said.

LORDE

Walking our boundaries
We arrived at my mother’s island

We entered silence

We have no passions left to love
We were born in a poor time

What am I ready to lose
What anger in my hard-won bones

What hues lie in the slit
When a mask breaks
When love leaps from my mouth

Who are you
Without expectation

I. At the First Clear Word

I. At the First Clear Word

emcee

emcee

You get to wear triple X
Jeans for easy access to the lair of first breaths

You get to reveal your shank
Handmade with the tooth of a bed spring and gauze