“It’s possible I crossed paths with the ghost of my grandfather, whose blood is mine but whose life I can barely fathom.”

“The very presence of our pretty faces is pornographic.”

“Never have I felt more certain that a woman should not be forced to be the vessel for an unwanted pregnancy.”

“Why when I look at you & see no traces of me I see a whole bloodline shrunk down to a question mark.”

“I am trained and brainwashed to expect more of mothers and women than I do of fathers and men. I fight this every day.”

“I couldn’t love you more if I had birthed you.”

“But while the nation’s attention is diverted, black men, women, and children continue to die.”

“I am complacent again as I swallow his fingers.”

“Splinters of memory come out in my teeth as I pass the time with my hands in my mouth.”

“The magic happens everywhere”

“I prayed for a hairy chest.”

“The moment the poem ends, things change”

“more toxic than chemical exposure, is the act of not owning your thoughts or speaking your mind”

“I could never stand the sun because it always made people see stuff they couldn’t usually see.”

“This is not an argument with God or about God or for God”

“Metal is autumn and grief and weeping and the color white and the mother of Water.”

“The only thing worse than death would be the next family gathering.”

“Heat travels faster than pain”

“His instincts were telling him to jump in his car and run, but he knew fleeing was not an option.”

“You slipped into a childhood brogue and cried your little green eyes out like a baby.”