Author’s Note: “I was one of the first students to graduate from Howard University with an undergraduate degree in African American Studies. I learned a lot about the history of the Black family from reading books and attending conferences. This experience however didn’t explain the quiet dignity of my father. His love for his family was not an abstraction but a difficult and fragile thing I came to honor. I was grateful for my father who worked hard everyday to provide a roof over my head. Today I still struggle to understand the mystery of his strength and the power he found not to leave or close a door.”… [Continue Story]

Author’s Note: “‘In the Distance’ speaks to the idea that we might travel in order to get distance from something, perhaps a past in need of healing, but that the story will follow close behind. The unnamed “unrelenting story” in the poem might pursue us full circle, even circumnavigate the globe. But on a hopeful note, the expansive nature of travel does allow one to experience the world differently and perhaps see things with new eyes, toward a different end.”… [Continue Story]

Author’s Note: “The Wizard of Oz was probably one of the first movies I ever watched, and I loved the Wicked Witch. Often, villains are my favorite part of narratives, and she terrified me-her laugh, … [Continue Story]

Author’s Note: “This poem explores the ways we attempt to justify our privileges to ourselves. While I wrote it thinking primarily of my own white middle class American culture, it asks questions more … [Continue Story]

Author’s Note: “The poem began with a prompt-to show the beauty of something ugly. Having lived in the DMV all my life, and recently read a history of the Chesapeake Bay, I thought of the oyster. It is not attractive, but it is vital to the bay and, of course, delicious to eat. The poem imagines life from the oyster’s point of view.” …[Continue Story]

Author’s note: “After I saw images of the small Hebrew dictionary William Bradford created in his notebook, I was drawn to imagine his later life. And though the parallels may not seem obvious, I … [Continue Story]

Author’s note: “As a narrative poet, the process of creating this piece was somewhat of a departure for me.  Lately, I have been intrigued by absence-what is not visible, not said, not done-even my own mental absence from much of what is going on around me.  This appeal to ‘white space’ is especially strong on the page. It allows readers to fill in the blanks, interpret, create their own meaning”… [Continue Story]

Author’s note: “Each day, a young woman runs past my home. What drives her pace, pushes her on? She runs fifteen miles a day alone, on country roads. I tried stepping into her shoes, tried to understand, imagined a past that could not be faced, a hurt that could not be undone. The repeated pounding of soles on pavement became a meditation, a saving grace”… [Continue Story]