*

“I live in language / on land they left. I have no language to describe this.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ THIS POETRY COLLECTION, y’all. It gave me Kindred by Octavia Butler vibes in the best way. White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia by Kiki Petrosino is, based on the author’s note, semi-autobiographical (the erasure poems throughout use her 23andMe results, for example - how freaking cool) and I was absolutely blown away by the way she weaves together a narrative through each poem in the collection: in turns a story of her struggle as a Black woman in academia, a grappling with Virginia’s history, and a recognition of the way the past always has it’s way of reaching directly into the present. Her poetry has lines that absolutely slayed me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ TW: suicide, racism, violence ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ID: A poetry chapbook lays on a white shelf with hardwood floors visible in the background. I’m touching the book with one hand, and you can see my emerald green manicure. via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CROxRrILVOe/