Furious Flower

Joanne V. Gabbin is the executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center and a professor of English at James Madison University. She is the author of the biography Sterling A. Brown: Building the Black Aesthetic Tradition and a children's book, I Bet She Called Me Sugar Plum, and the editor of two previous Furious Flower anthologies - The Furious Flowering of African American Poetry and Furious Flower: African American Poetry from the Black Arts Movement to the Present. She also edited Mourning Katrina: A Poetic Response to Tragedy and Shaping Memories: Reflections of African American Women Writers.Lauren K. Alleyne is the assistant director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center and an associate professor of English at James Madison University. She is the author of the poetry collection Difficult Fruit. A Cave Canem graduate, Alleyne was the winner of the 2016 Split This Rock Poetry Contest.

• Foreword By Rita DoveAcknowledgementsIntroduction By Joanne V. Gabbin and Lauren K. Alleyne1. Collective Power by John H. BraceySelected PoemsReginald Dwayne BettsMotherAbdul AliI Don't Think for a Second That We Won't Survive ThisRemica Bingham-RisherFish FryJoshua B. BennettPRAISE SONG FOR THE TABLE IN THE CAFETERIA WHERE ALL THE BLACK BOYS SAT TOGETHER DURING A BLOCK, LAUGHING TOO LOUDLYPREFACE TO A TWENTY-VOLUME REGICIDE NOTEDestiny O. Birdsongfor homeF. Douglas BrownRe-Portrait Your Name, DouglasJericho BrownThe Card TablesCurtis L. CrislerBoxing ArethasTeri Ellen Cross DavisKnuckle HeadSafia Elhilloself-portrait with no flagAlexis Pauline Gumbs90 poems I didn't write for you for Jasmine RichardsDuriel E. HarrisMakingDaMaris B. HillMiz LucilleDarrel Alejandro HolnesBread Pudding GrandmammaJP HowardPraise Poem for my Leo SelfAmanda JohnstonGender RevealFred JoinerTo the BuildersYalie KamaraA Haiku Love Letter for Gabby DouglasDonika KellyCARTOGRAPHY AS AN ACT OF REMEMBERINGJacqueline Jones LaMonWE PUT SO MUCH FAITH IN THE POWER OF DOORSRickey LaurentiisConditions for a Southern GothicNate Marshallwhich art? what fact?Kamilah Aisha MoonINITIATIONKhadijah QueenActivism is hot just ask Jason MomoaAnastacia-Reneéprayer for the unseenMahtem ShiferrawTHE SILENCESClint Smithwhat the cicada said to the black boySamantha ThornhillBring Back 2. Black Aesthetics by Evie ShockleySelected PoemsReginald Dwayne BettsNightTara BettsAnother Clearing of the Land: Epitaph for Hadiyah PendletonDerrick Weston BrownThe RootCM BurroughsOur People IOur People IITiana ClarkBBHMMMichael CollinsDecline and FallNandi ComerAmerican Family: A Syndrome Early Death Syndrome (EDS)Mary-Alice DanielREVIVALISM 101t'ai freedom ford#notoriousAricka ForemanWhen the Therapist Asks You to Recount, You Have to Say ItDuriel E. HarrisTEN LITTLE NIGGA (K)NOTS AND THEN THERE WERE NONETEN LITTLE ANGELS LET'S COUNT THEM ALL AGAIN!Clemonce HeardBOOGIE NIGHTS (GOT TO KEEP ON DANCING)Taylor JohnsonAerationIf not memoryRaina J. Leónwhat we lose in the fire a blown tire makes us seeDante MicheauxDew-DrierOpal MooreGirl with the golden contacts at the Wal MartJohn MurilloVariation on a Theme by Elizabeth BishopNatasha Oladokun“Let My Anger Be the Celebration We Were Never Supposed to Have”Iain Haley PollockWE, THE RUBBER MENLynne ProcopeAmerican ReligionGlenis RedmondI Wish You Black SonsValencia RobinCathedralMetta SámaRealism: a poeticsNicole SealeyCandelabra with HeadsDanez SmithFor the Dead HomieMariahadessa Ekere TallieGlobal Warming BluesMarcus WickerArs PoeticaKeith S. WilsonASTERISML. Lamar WilsonResurrection Sundayavery r. young1982middle of an episode of soul trainuncle shot find(s) out dat aint a brudda sanginI Can't Go For That(No Can Do)3. Pan African Poetics by Kwame DawesSelected PoemsJoshua B. BennettXLillian-Yvonne Bertrammy brother asks me what it's like to live in Utah and not be whiteReginald Dwayne BettsWhen I Think of Tamir Rice While DrivingTara BettsAfter Andy Warhol's “Little Race Riot”White PrivilegeDestiny O. BirdsongRecoveryFOUND ARTDestiny O. BirdsongDexter L. BoothPreacher Crow's Sermon on the Ark of BonesDerrick Weston BrownMelinated Merman aka Aquabruh Wants to Holler at YouDerrick Weston BrownTHANKSF. Douglas BrownBrown to Browne :: Douglass to Tubman Remix for Mahogany BrowneRe-Portrait of an IconJericho BrownThe Long WayCortney Lamar CharlestonDEVOTION (“I AM ON THE BATTLEFIELD FOR MY LORD”)Ama CodjoeGarden of the GodsNandi ComerAnarcha Appears Again And AgainDéLana R.A. DameronSay, DivineMy Resistance is BlackHayes DavisJim on the Raft after His “Dream”Mitchell L. H. DouglasPERSIMMONSSafia Elhilloapplication for asylumSherese FrancisVoyage of Kianda (from Angola to the Caribbean)(Art Formerly Known As The Sable Venus Speaks Back)Chanda FeldmanTO THE OLD SQUAREDaMaris B. HillA Reckoning: Assata in 1980Fred JoinerConsume/dLadan OsmanParable for RefugeesXandria PhillipsA FRUIT WE NEVER TASTEDLauren RussellDescent ExcerptCharif ShanahanGNAWA BOY, MARRAKESH, 1968Bianca Lynne SpriggsThe View from Down HereCedric TillmanCankerworms (for South Sudan) 4. Renovation by Meta DuEwa JonesSelected PoemsLillian-Yvonne Bertramthe river it shines pure whiteCortney Lamar CharlestonCHARLESTONAma CodjoeOf Being Sick and Tiredt'ai freedom fordif someone should take your picture & make you blackKrista Franklin3037, Time Capsule: Franklinfrancine j. harrisVersalMarcus JacksonEVEN WHEN SPILLINGAlan W. KingSugar ShackSure, You Can Ask Me About HiphopAna-Maurine LaraEach nightShayla LawsonWHITE FERRARINabila LovelaceThe “S” in I Loves You, PorgyHow I Wish I Could Be As Happy As Zaytoven Playing Piano For Gucci On NPR, Tiny DeskCynthia ManickTapping at Mama's KneesDouglas ManuelLoud LooksDavid MillsOrnate CulminationIndigo MoorThe Langston HopNkosi NkululekoTwenty-Seven w/ Voodoo Child' (Slight Return)Julian RandallLAMENTATION (Black Jesus Remix)darlene anita scottHOW THE BODY REMEMBERSKevin SimmondsUpright.Exit Wound.Candice WileySymphony of SoulKorey WilliamsEvensong 5. Writing the Body by Nagueyalti WarrenSelected PoemsRemica Bingham-RisherOur child is not yet ten and we are clearing his closetDexter L. BoothAfter the last flower is trampledNandi ComerWhy I Don't Call On CopsKrista FranklinThe Skin That TellsJanice N. HarringtonGENESISRandall HortonON REFLECTIONAmaud Jamaul JohnsonFeaturing Lonette Mckee as SisterBettina JuddSee HimNatasha MarinRitual for UnbusyingSaretta MorganStructural DilemmaShauna M. MorganRésumé NamesNkosi NkululekoI Always Wanna Fall Asleep When My Momma Does My Hair but She Won't Let MeJustin Phillip ReedOPEN SEASONdarlene anita scottONLY FOR NOW, OR, MAAFA ON A MONDAY RIDE THROUGH THE CITY IN WHICH I DECIDED I SHOULD JUST GO ON & DIE ALONESafiya SinclairHandsAmber Flora ThomasAubadeBlackberriesArisa WhiteLoni, with a martini and sapphire balls,Phillip B. WilliamsDiscipline6. The Collective Dominique ChristinaBlood In My EyeToi DerricotteHomage to my spiritual mothersCamille T. DungyGive Me Some WobbleCornelius EadyHow I wrote “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”Ross GayLet Your Engine Be LoveTerrance HayesA Poetics of PracticeErica HuntStatement on PoetryMajor JacksonMy Lyrical SelfTyehimba JessBlack PoetryA.Van JordanTry to Care About Someone Other Than YourselfDouglas KearneyPoetics as Response to Certain Tropes as AllergensRuth Ellen KocherAporia and the Poetics of Beauty as Non-ResolutionTony MedinaPersona non-GrataE. Ethelbert MillerSpace Dream StruggleThylias MossBlack Like EverythingMendi Lewis ObadikeAs the Crow Flies (A Reorientation)Gregory PardloNotes on VoiceMatthew ShenodaOn NoticingPatricia SmithWe are rapidly running out of ways to write this world.Tracy K. SmithAltogether Unlike ItselfPatricia Spears JonesThinking in Words (for Lorenzo Thomas and June Jordan)Sharan StrangeA Poetics of EmpathyLyrae Van Clief-StefanonSeeing to BeFrank X WalkerMemory, Research, Imagination, and the Mining of Historical Poetry