Oya’s Crown

The poem “Oya’s Crown” is the 14th and final sonnet in a series of sonnets, a Sonnet Crown, by the same name. Each line of this poem consists of words from Breauna’s original works, “Oya’s Sonnets” numbers 1-14, respectively. The poem “Oya’s Crown” is the first of this series to be published, and was awarded Honorable mention in the The Lauren K. Alleyne Difficult Fruit Poetry Prize in 2017. Read the poem here.

Suite Trap Blues: Vol 1

Suite Trap Blues Volume 1: The Mixtape  is an interactive, multi genre, intergenerational, conversation that is being held together by its distinct connections and threads. This curation of songs, voices, lines, lyrics, questions & answers was prompted by me questioning how the term “trap music” developed to be used and applied as it currently is in the last 25 years. It is a composition of poems inspired by classic and contemporary trap music songs, and a reinterpretation of trap music as a form of the blues.  

Listen to the Mixtape here.

Notes on a Myth of an Invasive Species

The poem “Notes on a Myth of an Invasive Species” appears in the Summer 2015 issue of Little Patuxent Review. This poem collects and arranges anthropological language to expose its most grotesque implications.  Read it here.

Etymology of a Negro Spiritual

The poem “On the Etymology of a Negro Spiritual ” appears as the Poem of the Week at Vinyl Poetry and Prose, May 29, 2016.  The poem follows the journey of one song; from its ancient origin to its modern-day interpretations.  Read it here.

TWO POEMS: Juneteenth & Za Zen

The poem "Juneteenth" appears in Issue 10 of wildness literary journal (Platypus Press). It appears alongside the poem "Za Zen".   The poem Juneteenth is an Ars Poetica written annually on the holiday Juneteenth; also the author's birth date. Za Zen is the name of a seated meditation technique in which the mantra involves counting backwards from 10 to 1.  Read both poems here.

Life of a Black Woman as Furious Flower

The poem "Life of a Black Woman as Furious Flower" appears in Winter Tangerine Review's "Love Letter to Spooks" Issue.  This poem explores traditional relationships to botany, violence, and nature.  Read it here.