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8+ opere 77 membri 3 recensioni

Opere di Arisa White

Opere correlate

Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color (2018) — Collaboratore — 86 copie
Choice Words: Writers on Abortion (2020) — Collaboratore — 74 copie
Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology (2022) — Collaboratore — 14 copie

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Nome legale
White, Arisa
Nazionalità
USA
Luogo di nascita
New York, New York, USA

Utenti

Recensioni

Fearless and powerful. That's the only way to describe this. An important volume of poetry, especially in light of what continues to happen hear in the U.S., and worldwide, in regards to the LGBTQ community. I commend Arisa White on her bravery and poignancy.

Of course, I am drawn to poems centering on family and injustice. My first favorite was "Auntie." The story of a family member whose "sexuality" is secreted away and always glossed over or embellished.

Auntie

I listen for you in these moments of touch,
declare through your friends what is not said.

I inventory looks, languishing on the sweet end
of a woman's backside, her body, their eyes silk over
air we just breathed, blink and their lids rest
like water to shore, relishing as one does a kiss.

This orchestrated silence is viral; it heats
all parts until my throats fevers.
How do you manage this, auntie?

When your friends are around, your hands language
near her to confirm she's close: on her forearm,
the small of her back, you hold often,
fingering notes to release perfect sound.

Together since the year of my birth,
yet you are pantomime in the wings
of our family's speech.

Why do you arch in shadows,
accept the shade eclipsing her face?

The holidays would be more gay
if we didn't ghost in dead air,

in wooden boxes, letters folded over and over again, in locked rooms

where shames are secretly arranged--

My second favorite "Gun(n)," which is dedicated to Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old who was murdered for being gay in Newark, New Jersey in May 2003. I hear of such things occurring in our world and it breaks my heart. If Sakia would have had a gun, "I wold not know you" (line 2).

Gun(n)
for Sakia Gunn

Sakia, if you had the weapon of your last name,
I would not know you. This steady scrape
against paper to transport fecund lament, never.
If in your hands the pearl-handled gun

my stepfather kept in the broom closet--
I'd give you the aim I practiced at twelve.
"Home is where the heart is"marks an
average man's forehead and the trashcan
is somewhere near his jewels.

If you brought me roses in high school,
wrapped in newspaper to protect me from thorns,
I would take them, and wash ink from my fingers
in the jeans and jersey flood of your girlboy body.
Let me be your girl.

4-evah 2 eternity onto my back.
Your finger's ballpoint end, again and again
practices the hear over i, and into the morning
we stash whispers where over thread, thread crosses.
I promise

I have impeccable aim.
Pulling a trigger loosens mustangs
in your veins. Piss into my mortar--an old war
recipe makes bullets complete. Let your shower
wash an asshole from the streets.

If you're shocked you life requires this exchange,
come into my arms, Sakia. Come into my arms.


As described in the synopsis, the titles of these poems are from words used internationally as hate speech against gays and lesbians (there are notes at the end of the book explaining each definition). White's re-envisioning of the language to share "art, love, and understanding" is a touching tribute to a community that deserves so much love. Bravo!
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
TheTrueBookAddict | Mar 22, 2020 |
Biddy Mason was a slave who grew up learning about healing with herbs and plants from Granny Ellen. As an adult she was sold to Robert and Rebecca Dorn Smith who eventually move the family and their slaves to Utah and later to California. Because California is a free state, Biddy hopes for freedom for her and her girls, but Robert Smith ignores the law. The Smiths decide to move to Texas; Biddy knows she won’t get freedom there. Thanks to an intervention by friends, Biddy successfully pleads her case in court. Introduces a lesser-known person in history who rose from slavery to become a successful business woman, respected community member and landowner in Los Angeles.… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Salsabrarian | Mar 14, 2020 |
Hurrah’s Nest by Arisa White is an illustration of the “untidy heap” or “tangle of debris that can block a stream” that family can become, and it will remind readers how birds create their nests out of the most unwelcome or tossed aside elements of the world from hair to fabric strings and twigs. There are scars here, deep ones rooted in absentee parents and relatives whose ways of doing things countered the practices the narrator was taught. Minor acts of rebellion scream out in dreadlocks and boyish haircuts on girls. There are other poems with child-like qualities in which panties become parachutes and beaded braids become like seaweed in “Last Bath,” which represent happier memories and playfulness shared by young siblings with great imaginations.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/04/hurrahs-nest-by-arisa-white.html
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
sagustocox | Apr 23, 2012 |

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Statistiche

Opere
8
Opere correlate
7
Utenti
77
Popolarità
#231,246
Voto
4.2
Recensioni
3
ISBN
9

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