Poetry Break

Once again:

“Your Life” by Andrea Gibson
“I Carry Your Heart with Me” by e.e. cummings
“Explaining My Depression to My Mother” by Sabrina Benaim
“Ohm” by Saul Williams
“Why are Muslims So…” by Sakila & Hawa
“14 Lines from Love Letters or Suicide Notes” by Doc Luben
“Some Things You Need to Know Before Dating Me” by Jamie Mortara
“What Society Says to Men” by Helly Shah
“AmeRícan” by Tato Laviera
“Through the Fence…” by Edward Vidaurre
“America” by Allen Ginsberg
“The Good Life” by Tracy K. Smith
“When a Boy Tells You He Loves You” by Edwin Bodeny
“OCD” by Neil Hilborn
“Peach Scone” by Hobo Johnson & the LoveMakers
“I Will Not Let an Exam Result Decide my Fate” by Suli Breaks
“Consent at 10,000 Feet” by Guante
“Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?” by Prince Ea
“To This Day” by Shane Koyczan
“34 Excuses for Why We Failed at Love” by Warsan Shire
“Storm” by Tim Minchin
“Chingona” by Leticia
“Afro-Latina” by Elizabeth Acevedo
“Juan Valdez” by Carlos Andres Gomez
“Dear Straight People” by Denice Frohman
“Poema XV”/ “I Like for You to be Still” by Pablo Neruda
“McAllen Our Rinconcito” by Priscilla Celia Suarez
“Some Days” by Amalia Ortiz
“For the Quiet Kids Who’ve Been Told ‘Speak Up'” by Grace Carras
…

Your love: a mixed tape the car stereo ate; a sell-by-date, batteries not included, rough around the edges; scentless potpourri
from Chapin City Blues

I started to celebrate National Poetry Month. And I pre-selected each poem the day I made my decision to do this. However, April 29th and 30th were left unfilled. I didn’t know what to put in there. During this time, I discovered (for myself) the poetry of Grace Carras. So I had to give her one of the two slots.

This last piece took me years to write and hours to record and mix. And I hope that you enjoyed this journey as much as I.

Thank you.