New poem in Pensive Journal

My poem “dispatches from the desk of Danel: the self-designated disciple and messianic anger-management translator” was published in the latest issue of Pensive Journal out of Northeastern University. Click on the link below and turn to page #77.



Have you watched the Key & Peele sketches involving President Obama's anger translator Luther?  That’s the vibe here.


Note: Here are the passages the speaker is … “interpreting”

Two 'Letters to America' in Terrain.org

Demien DineYazhi’s My Ancestors Will Not Let Me Forget This, 2020. Letterpress Print

Terrain.org has published both "when asked what might finally lead me to drink or abuse schedule 1 narcotics" & "white History Month" as a part of their Letter to America series.

Both are accompanied by a “dramatic reading.” Click below to read/listen.

"Invisible Man (Two Views)” - Alan Squire Publishing Annual Poetry Contest

My poem "Invisible Man (Two Views)” was shortlisted in Alan Squire Publishing Annual Poetry Contest and is now in ASP Bulliten’s latest issue.

Invisible Man, Glenn Ligon

This is a doubly ekphrastic poem, inspired by Glenn Ligon’s canvases (by the same name), who in turn took his inspiration from Ralph Ellison’s novel of the same name. Both Ligon and my work represents the opening paragraphs of Ellison’s work to great effect.

So I’m standing on the shoulders of giants. Black excellence.

Best Spiritual Literature anthology nomination

Presence Journal is nominating my poem [Say pity is not action, is not love] for possible inclusion in Orison Books' annual Best Spiritual Literature anthology!

This is a first for me and I’m honored.

"American Civics: 2056" published in River Heron Review

My poem “American Civics: 2056” was published in River Heron Review’s Poems, For Now issue.

This is an erasure poem from American Civics: A Text Book for High Schools, Normal Schools, and Academies (1906), employing the only mentions of Blacks (“Negroes” or “slaves”) in the whole textbook.

It’s pretty much what you would think and has implications for our collective future.