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Back Refuse
Chapters (54)
  1. Cover Page
  2. ICARUS IMPOSTER SYNDROME
  3. A THOUSAND CARDINALS
  4. BIRACIAL GHAZAL: WHY EVERYTHING ENDS IN BLOOD
  5. THIS LAND IS WHERE WE BURIED EVERYTHING THAT CAME BEFORE YOU: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CONCEPTS OF OWNERSHIP IN EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
  6. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS #1
  7. IN A RARE MOMENT OF NOSTALGIA MY FATHER REFLECTS ON OBAMA’S FIRST INAUGURATION
  8. TAXONOMY REGARDING MY MOTHER
  9. I THINK EVERYBODY HAS A YEAR THEY NEVER REALLY LEAVE
  10. SUMMER AFTER
  11. ELEGY FOR THE WINTER AFTER TAINA WAS CANCELLED
  12. CHICAGO*
  13. WASN’T THE MINOTAUR BURIED HORNS FIRST: VULNERABILITY AND IDENTITY IN THE MYTHIC BODY
  14. A POEM ABOUT TREES THAT ISN’T ACTUALLY A POEM ABOUT TREES
  15. NEARLY 7 YEARS AFTER THE FACT A BOY WHOSE NOSE I NEARLY BROKE HITS ME UP FOR BRUNCH
  16. IN THE NETFLIX TRAILER OBAMA SAYS “I DON’T FIT IN ANYWHERE” WHILE ANTHONY HAMILTON PULLS A BURNING CITY OUT OF HIS MOUTH
  17. OBAMA SAYS “MUTTS LIKE ME” IN THE MIRROR EVERY MORNING WHILE I GET READY FOR SCHOOL
  18. THE ACADEMY OF ACCEPTABLE LOSS
  19. PREGAME PRAYER WITH COMPLETE CITATIONS
  20. COVERAGE
  21. YOU GOT MCDONALD’S MONEY?
  22. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS #20
  23. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS #51
  24. THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE ONCE BOMBED CITY: PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS OF ANCESTRAL MEMORY THROUGH THE LENS OF RACIAL BATTLE TRAUMA
  25. THE SPACE BETWEEN SKINS IS CALLED A WOUND
  26. TRANSLATION
  27. ON THE NIGHT I CONSIDER COMING OUT TO MY PARENTS
  28. (SELF) INFLICTED
  29. FRANK OCEAN SIGHTING #268: FRANK OCEAN IS RUMORED TO SPEAK OF RIVERS WHICH IS LIKELY A LIE (DISC 1)
  30. NARCISSUS IMPOSTOR SYNDROME
  31. THE AUTHOR IS OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR OBAMA’S LONG LOST SON
  32. INSOMNIAC SOLILOQUY
  33. MY FATHER WATCHES FERGUSON VOL. 1
  34. PORTRAIT OF MY FATHER AS SISYPHUS
  35. MY FATHER WATCHES FERGUSON VOL. 2
  36. PALINOPSIA
  37. POLICE DREAM #607
  38. PALINOPSIA
  39. ELEGY FOR THE SUMMER AFTER DJANGO UNCHAINED CAME OUT ON DVD
  40. PALINOPSIA
  41. REGRETS
  42. GHAZAL FOR THE SUICIDAL THOUGHT
  43. PALINOPSIA
  44. THE SEARCH FOR FRANK OCEAN OR A BRIEF HISTORY OF DISAPPEARING
  45. VARIATION ON A THEME OF GENETICS
  46. LESLIE ODOM JR. SINGS OBAMA’S ANGER ON NPR
  47. MERCY, MERCY, HIM
  48. TANKA FOR THE 4TH OF JULY
  49. ZEALOTS OF STOCKHOLM OR ELEGY FOR THE STILL ALIVE
  50. OBAMA WANTS TO BE CLEAR ABOUT HIS LEGACY
  51. OBAMA SPEAKS OF RIVERS BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON DIFFERENT SHORES
  52. NEGROTOPIA #3 (SELF PORTRAIT AS HEAVEN)
  53. SAD NIGGA MANIFESTO
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I live in awe of and community with a tremendous network of writers who everyday challenge me to push that much harder to be the best I can be. Thank you to Danez Smith, Nate Marshall, Itiola Jones, Natalie Diaz, Gabriel Ramirez, Nkosi Nkululeko, Natasha Trethewey, Paul Tran, Jericho Brown, Kavindu Jointe, Daniella Toosie-Watson, Hanif Abdurraqib, John Murillo, Kirwyn Sutherland, Kiese Laymon, Nadia Alexis, Patricia Smith, Christopher Greggs, Ariana Brown, Cat Velez, Rachel McKibbens, Jose Olivarez, Aziza Barnes, Safia Elhillo, Tara Betts, Ross Gay, Terrance Hayes, Fatimah Asghar, Franny Choi, Sam Sax, Kyle Dargan, Joshua Bennett, Caroline Randall Williams, Nikky Finney, Aracelis Girmay, Malcolm Friend, Jesmyn Ward, Tyriek White, Josh Nguyen, Nicole Terez Dutton, Jess Rizkallah, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Monica Sok, Miriam Harris, Sarah Sgro, Nabila Lovelace, Thiahera Nurse, Erika L. Sanchez, Javier Perez, Luther Hughes, Phillip B. Williams, Evie Shockley, L. Lamar Wilson, Eugenia Leigh, Mahogany L. Browne, Amanda Johnston, Diamond Forde, Kaveh Akbar, Hiwot Adilow, Desiree C. Bailey, Sam Stevens, Justin Phillip Reed, Haydil Henriquez, Hazem Fahmy, Elizabeth Acevedo, Shane McCrae, Jamal Parker, Kendrick Lamar, Soledad Alfaro-Allah, Denice Frohman, Yasmin Belkhyr, Rachel Wiley, Nicole Sealey, Claudia Rankine, Paul Cato, Harmony Holiday, Janelle Viera, Khadijah Queen, Kai Davis, David Pratt, Jovan McKoy, Saeed Jones, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Cortney Lamar Charleston, Jonathan Jacob Moore, Donald Glover, SZA, Ian Axel Anderson, Noor Jaber, Shreekari Tedapali, Sanam Sheriff, Carol Bowe, Xandria Phillips, Jayy Dodd, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Kevin Young, Taryn Englehart, Taylor Steele, Camonghne Felix, and Kanye West.

Thank you to the families, spaces and institutions without whom there isn’t a book to speak of. Thank you to Cornelius Eady and Toi Derricotte for founding Cave Canem, to Dr. Charles Henry Rowell for founding Callaloo, to Monifa Lemons and Candace Wiley who founded The Watering Hole and introduced me to 4 of my very closest friends until we were kin. Thank you No Name Collective for whom our star has only begun to shine. Thank you to the writers of the BOAAT Retreat and the brilliant family that is the MFA Program at Ole Miss! An unpayable debt to OASIS, my first writing community. If I am clear on nothing else, please know that I owe Philly Youth Poetry Movement nothing less than my life.