Chapters (54)
- Cover Page
- ICARUS IMPOSTER SYNDROME
- A THOUSAND CARDINALS
- BIRACIAL GHAZAL: WHY EVERYTHING ENDS IN BLOOD
- THIS LAND IS WHERE WE BURIED EVERYTHING THAT CAME BEFORE YOU: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CONCEPTS OF OWNERSHIP IN EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
- FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS #1
- IN A RARE MOMENT OF NOSTALGIA MY FATHER REFLECTS ON OBAMA’S FIRST INAUGURATION
- TAXONOMY REGARDING MY MOTHER
- I THINK EVERYBODY HAS A YEAR THEY NEVER REALLY LEAVE
- SUMMER AFTER
- ELEGY FOR THE WINTER AFTER TAINA WAS CANCELLED
- CHICAGO*
- WASN’T THE MINOTAUR BURIED HORNS FIRST: VULNERABILITY AND IDENTITY IN THE MYTHIC BODY
- A POEM ABOUT TREES THAT ISN’T ACTUALLY A POEM ABOUT TREES
- NEARLY 7 YEARS AFTER THE FACT A BOY WHOSE NOSE I NEARLY BROKE HITS ME UP FOR BRUNCH
- IN THE NETFLIX TRAILER OBAMA SAYS “I DON’T FIT IN ANYWHERE” WHILE ANTHONY HAMILTON PULLS A BURNING CITY OUT OF HIS MOUTH
- OBAMA SAYS “MUTTS LIKE ME” IN THE MIRROR EVERY MORNING WHILE I GET READY FOR SCHOOL
- THE ACADEMY OF ACCEPTABLE LOSS
- PREGAME PRAYER WITH COMPLETE CITATIONS
- COVERAGE
- YOU GOT MCDONALD’S MONEY?
- FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS #20
- FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS #51
- THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE ONCE BOMBED CITY: PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS OF ANCESTRAL MEMORY THROUGH THE LENS OF RACIAL BATTLE TRAUMA
- THE SPACE BETWEEN SKINS IS CALLED A WOUND
- TRANSLATION
- ON THE NIGHT I CONSIDER COMING OUT TO MY PARENTS
- (SELF) INFLICTED
- FRANK OCEAN SIGHTING #268: FRANK OCEAN IS RUMORED TO SPEAK OF RIVERS WHICH IS LIKELY A LIE (DISC 1)
- NARCISSUS IMPOSTOR SYNDROME
- THE AUTHOR IS OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR OBAMA’S LONG LOST SON
- INSOMNIAC SOLILOQUY
- MY FATHER WATCHES FERGUSON VOL. 1
- PORTRAIT OF MY FATHER AS SISYPHUS
- MY FATHER WATCHES FERGUSON VOL. 2
- PALINOPSIA
- POLICE DREAM #607
- PALINOPSIA
- ELEGY FOR THE SUMMER AFTER DJANGO UNCHAINED CAME OUT ON DVD
- PALINOPSIA
- REGRETS
- GHAZAL FOR THE SUICIDAL THOUGHT
- PALINOPSIA
- THE SEARCH FOR FRANK OCEAN OR A BRIEF HISTORY OF DISAPPEARING
- VARIATION ON A THEME OF GENETICS
- LESLIE ODOM JR. SINGS OBAMA’S ANGER ON NPR
- MERCY, MERCY, HIM
- TANKA FOR THE 4TH OF JULY
- ZEALOTS OF STOCKHOLM OR ELEGY FOR THE STILL ALIVE
- OBAMA WANTS TO BE CLEAR ABOUT HIS LEGACY
- OBAMA SPEAKS OF RIVERS BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON DIFFERENT SHORES
- NEGROTOPIA #3 (SELF PORTRAIT AS HEAVEN)
- SAD NIGGA MANIFESTO
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
But I guess that’s not the rebirth
you were looking for
maybe you wanted the one
where the sky disappears entirely
where the sinners march out the city
where salt is the punishment for nostalgia
Sorry about that
this is the only story I know
where winter comes calling
and it start raining corpses
and nobody gets ornery about it
All this shit is cyclical
The cicadas know
they put their children straight
in the ground command the body
“dig”
Now y’all fussed
because they said
He was no angel
Mad they left him in the sun
Left him to dream of shade
while he rot in the heat turn a country to salt
You can be mad but you shouldn’t be shocked
you know how I feel about looking back