Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so happy to be here with both of you.
I have so much admiration for Vanessa and Raquel.
One of my favorite readings ever at the market in Portland
at AWP both of you read.
Yeah, so one of my favorite things.
I just think it's so incredible.
I mean, the language is so precise, right?
The intersection of social concerns and poetry,
I think that something that once I have a really invested effort
over years to collect work that is really directed
towards this, at a time where there's an effort
to erase social concern from poetry or to praise
and uplift a poetry that is detached from politics
and social concern.
And so I think that's one of the many things
about the effort at Art for Justice
that is so inspiring and so exciting.
And, again, to be here with incredible poets like Raquel
and Vanessa, just yeah.
So thank you.
Thank you, again, for having me.
So these poems, some of them actually
came from that manuscript Literal Dope,
and they were revised.
And I've been finding a way of re approaching the work
and trying to take it to where it needs to be before it comes
out in the world.
And so yeah, these are the poems from Literal Dope.
"Trap."
"Now one, a device or enclosure designed to catch and retain
or to kill animals typically by allowing entry but not exit
or by catching hold of a part of the body.
See also cage, see also shackle, as
in if an animal is caught in a trap,
it will probably die there.
Two, an unpleasant situation from which
it is hard to escape, a trick by which
someone is misled into acting contrary to their interests
or intentions.
See also respectability, see also masculinity, see also
scarcity, see also white supremacy,
as in even an exceptionally smart or strong animal
can fall into a trap, as in genius is a trap.
Three, residential areas with predominantly Black populations
that have been historically impoverished and blocked
from fair access to housing, educational resources,
and jobs, redlined in HOLC maps, and disproportionately
patrolled by law enforcement.
See also ghetto, see also projects,
see also hood, as in the trap is home to too much genius that
will probably die there.
Fourth.
One, catch an animal in a trap.
See also ambush, see also arrest, as in to trap,
you need a victim.
Two, prevent someone from escaping from a place.
Have something typically a part of the body held tightly
by something so that it cannot move or be freed.
See also redline, see also jail, as in when
you trap something, you are the god of its movements,
as in a good trapper knows they need only trap
a single limb, the foot, the arm, the mind,
anything will suffice.
Three, extralegal activities necessitated by lack of access
to sustainable wages, fair housing, affordable education,
and healthcare.
See also slang, see also hustle, as in we trap in a trap
because we trap.