☀ Today's Poem: "Reading Black Poems to White Audiences: A How-To Guide" Cameron Barnett

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May 9, 2024

Reading Black Poems to White Audiences: A How-To Guide

Part Ⅲ: The N-Word
"One should never say the N-word to a white audience." —Nobody
. . . Nigga, say nigga all the time
Say nigga to the left, and nigga to the right
Say nigga like you're playing Simon Says
and you can't move unless somebody says nigga
Say nigga to the old lady in the front like you're spilling some big secret
Say nigga to the old man in the back like you just spilled his big ass secret
Say nigga top to bottom like you patting down the audience
before you let them hear the rest of the poem
Say nigga like you're counting jumping jacks—one nigga, two nigga, three nigga, four . . .
Say it to the ceiling like you want the roof to hear it
and if the roof ain't listening say it to the floor
like you want your dead homie to hear it down below
Then say nigga as if your dead homie down there came back
and you only get one word to share with him
Say nigga till your bones get hot
Say nigga like you're making a bonfire
Say nigga like you're starting a fire
with nothing but the bones of dead homies
Say nigga like rain on a roof, the one that ain't listening
Say nigga to the twelve-year-old who ain't looking at you
'cause his phone is in the way and say nigga to his father
who's thinking twice about bringing his kid to your reading
And once you've said nigga to every white person in the room,
say nigga to the only other nigga there
the way you'd tell your mother you love her
And don't be alarmed when the well-meaning man in his seventies
says to you "your poems are good but I'm just tired of Black poets
making me feel bad about slavery and Jim Crow"
Remember, he's "well-meaning"—help him feel Jim Crow another way—
invite him up to the mic—help him feel slavery like he hasn't
felt it before—wrap the cord over his shoulders,
down his collar, loop it like a necktie and dangle it
by his mouth then say it with him—nigga—and if he hesitates
pull the cord tighter and say it with him—nigga—and if he stammers
loop the cord again and whisper in his ear—nigga—and if he squirms
pull the cord tighter till he says it, tighter still until he feels it
in his bones—nigga—and when he gets hot enough
start a fire, nigga

from the book MURMUR / Autumn House Press

READ ABOUT TODAY'S POEM

Forward

"Ryo Yamaguchi Named Publisher at Copper Canyon Press"
"'I’ve been reading Copper Canyon books since I was eighteen years old,' Yamaguchi said. 'Simply being part of this organization is a dream come true, and I step into this leadership role backed by a half century of institutional wisdom advocating for the vitality of poetry in our lives....We’ve got so much on the horizon—books from familiar voices, books from new voices; new partnerships, new formats, new focus.'"
via PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

READ ALL TODAY'S HEADLINES

What Sparks Poetry:
Jessica E. Johnson on "Of Daylight Saving Time, MyFitnessPal, and Indoor/Outdoor Cats"
"I want to weave in my long, stubborn opposition to hierarchy, noting how eyes trained on hierarchy and classification will miss what is rich, intricate, and inherently valuable in favor of an arbitrary metric. Rich, intricate, valuable: the adjectives call up the sword fern, mahonia, and yellow stream violet that grow under the tall, broad cedar I love and try to listen to, the whole system around her unsuited to commodification."

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