{"product_id":"boy-maybe-isbn-9780807017821","title":"boy maybe","description":"\u003cb\u003e51 achingly eloquent poems from a young Cave Canem fellow: W. J. Lofton's verses explore Black queer Southern identity, grief, love, and intimacy while enduring and witnessing unfreedom in America\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eW. J. Lofton writes vivid, accessible poems that channel the energy, urgency, ambitions, joys, and sorrows of a young Black queer artist. They are about love and flirtation, sweet tea and hot sauce, God and family, life and death, police brutality and extrajudicial killings. His verses honor some of the young lives extinguished by these killings—Breonna Taylor, Kendrick Johnson, Ahmaud Arbery. He also pays tribute to some of the towering figures of Black culture who have come before him—Richard Pryor, Assata Shakur. His style is endlessly propulsive, informed by some of the Harlem Renaissance greats—Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks—but also transforming that rich tradition for the present day.\u003ci\u003ePreface\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehere today, gone today\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eafter each death\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edreamhouse\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003egravity reports:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewe report:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMama reports:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto know touch better\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emany things\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eproperty\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor Cadarius, Keith \u0026amp; Miles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto keep the flies away\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor Tae\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eusing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edominium\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epig\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epetting the dog\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen your touch went\u003cbr\u003emissing i remembered\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efirst time we met\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003esweet\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eright hooks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elanguage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehalf brutal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecounting\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edark\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epolka dots\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efire eats\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea mighty long time\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edouble u, double d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor Kendrick\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe flower will make its\u003cbr\u003edebut when everyone is dying\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewould you kill God too?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eboy falling\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eadjust your hips\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eain’t dying\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebegging\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efragile things\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewater we share\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ealready flesh\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe leash\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebetween boys\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat one uncle we all know\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003easking for miracles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebaby’s breath\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ejellyfish eye\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elady day visits glynn county\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebutcher shop\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eaint neva\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas long as the dying\u003cbr\u003edie without dignity\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edanger dodge\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elittle brown bat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eleaving kessler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; oceans\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003c\/i\u003e“A museum of exactitudes, with lines so precise that you never forget them . . . Enchanting and provocative.”\u003cbr\u003e—Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Tradition\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eboy maybe\u003c\/i\u003e touches my heart with its soft, honest lyrics and shakes me up with its brilliant singing. . . . Here, in this poet’s shining language, is a country where we are possible.”\u003cbr\u003e—Danez Smith, Lambda Award–winning author of \u003ci\u003e[insert] Boy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eboy maybe\u003c\/i\u003e refuses to compromise on the fullest, freest expressions of Black queer aliveness. I am so moved and emboldened by this work.”\u003cbr\u003e—Chen Chen, author of \u003ci\u003eWhen I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Beautiful . . . Seamless and evocative . . . This is a new illuminating call for liberation. I cannot speak highly enough of this voice.”\u003cbr\u003e—Raymond Antrobus, Ted Hughes Award–winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Perseverance\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’m astonished at \u003ci\u003eboy maybe\u003c\/i\u003e. . . . Read this breathing book and be reminded where God is.”\u003cbr\u003e—K. Iver, author of \u003ci\u003eShort Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eW. J. Lofton\u003c\/b\u003e, a Chicago-born poet and multimodal artist, is the author of \u003ci\u003eA Garden for Black Boys Between the Stages of Soil and Stardust\u003c\/i\u003e. His work explores the intersections of race, class, and gender while focusing on Black queer men’s attempts at intimacy and the tensions and wonders of boyhood. Lofton has received fellowships from Cave Canem and Emory University. A recipient of Ava DuVernay’s LEAP Grant, his work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ewildness\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eObsidian\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eScalawag\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he co-curates\u003ci\u003e Rebellion: A Writing Salon\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44862533566693,"sku":"NP9780807017821","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807017821.jpg?v=1767722997","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/boy-maybe-isbn-9780807017821","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}