Book picks similar to
The Small Blades Hurt by Erica Dawson


poetry
college
contemporary-poetry
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Thieves of Paradise


Yusef Komunyakaa - 1998
    Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa delivers a powerful meditation on American, and particularly African American, life in the wake of Vietnam.Centering on the disorienting experiences of the returning soldier and drawing on multiple traditions, Yusef Komunyakaa's poetry is potent, live, and, like the strains of jazz running through it, an erudite and soulful music.

To Be of Use: Poems


Marge Piercy - 1973
    

In Love with You


Pierre Alex Jeanty - 2018
    Every woman should know the feelings of being loved and radiating those feelings back to her mate. This is a beautiful expression of heartfelt emotion using short, gratifying sentiments. If there is a lover in you, you will not get enough of "Her."

Shall We Gather at the River


James Wright - 1968
    

She Gave Her All to the Hood’s Finest 3


Shvonne Latrice - 2019
    What she doesn't know is that the messenger is harboring another shocking secret that they aren't quite willing to let her in on just yet. Feeling confused and overwhelmed, she turns to the only person who has had her back since her first love was murdered, even though unsure if he'd be willing to involve himself due to the circumstances. In addition to such a heavy weight, suspicious leeches resurface, ready to suck Camarih and her beau dry unless she complies with their wishes. Little does Camarih know, their seemingly harmless attempt at extorting her is much deeper than she may think. With a flourishing career that's only growing, Tony doesn't have as much time to zone in on what could soon be a very detrimental and possibly deadly train wreck that is his personal life. The saying more money more problems has definitely began to ring true for the handsome thug, who although has a bigger bank account, is still that same street boy at heart. By saying that, a couple extra zeros on his paycheck hasn't stopped the gangsta from laying out a few when it comes to his respect. Will the deeply in love yet completely opposite couple be able to stick together and trust one another, or will outside forces finally weave their way into a union that has seemed unlikely from the get-go? As Make A Killing becomes more and more successful, it's only right that that success be accompanied by jealousy, unrequited loves, and envy. With new people entering the building, tension arises, relationships are broken, and betrayal becomes a part of day-to-day life.

Tell Yo Bitch 2


Niyah Moore - 2013
    Mai’s betrayal lands her in a life threatening situation at the hands of Cipher, whom seems to think Rocko is responsible for his cousin’s death. While Heather and Troi are forced to work out their differences for their own safety, Brandon isn’t really who he says he is. Heather has to decide if her relationship with Brandon will be able to outlast what he’s been hiding. Rocko comes back in contact with an old fling, Dominique. Will he be able to deal with her surprise?

Third Street Conjure Boys: Jinx


Nikki Clarke - 2020
    We're magic, but we aren't magicians. We're ancient deities, all the things anyone has ever believed in, new and old. We're real and we're here, walking among you. Some of us are more special than others. Some of us hold the key to immense power and the ability to bestow it on others. Risers are hailed and hunted, wanted for the blessings they can bestow, and not always for good. From the moment I see my riser, the only woman who can help me attain maximum power in my human form, I know I want her, or at least I want what she can give me.This is the first installment of the Third Street Conjure Boys series.

Hood Misfits (Volume 4)


Brick - 2013
    In an all out street war, who will come out on top? ENGA vs. DOA, the battle lines have been drawn.

City Lights


George Sherman Hudson - 2011
    Real and his lady, Constance, were living in the lap of luxury, with fancy cars, expensive clothes and a million dollar home until someone close to them alerted the feds to their illegal activity.At the blink of an eye their perfect life was turned upside down. Just as Real was sorting things out on the home front, the head of Miami's most powerful Cartel gave him an ultimatum that would eventually force him back into the life he had swore off forever. Knowing this lifestyle would surely put Constance in danger, he made plans to send her away until the score was settled but things spiraled out of control. Now Real and Constance are in a fight for survival where friends become enemies and murder is essential. Atlanta's underworld to Miami's most affluent community—no stone was left unturned as Real fought to keep Constance safe while attempting to regain control of the lifestyle he once would kill for.From the city of Atlanta to the cell block of Georgia's most dangerous prison, life under the City Lights would never be the same.

Gangsta Twist 1


Clifford Spud Johnson - 2011
    No one's met the mysterious boss who gives them their orders via laptop, but the arrangement works for everyone involved. Their criminal enterprise keeps them rolling in dough, allowing them to purchase property and businesses all over town.When Taz falls in love with Sacha, an ambitious young lawyer, he makes an unexpected enemy. Cliff, another lawyer at the firm, wants Sacha for himself, and he'll stop at nothing to win her back from the thug she's with. He sets his sights on one of Taz s family members, in order to get close to Taz's inner circle. Now Cliff and Taz are locked in a monstrous battle that can only end in tragedy. Which one will come out on top?

Power Part 2


Deja King - 2014
    Alex is determined to seek revenge for the death of his fiance but can a new love heal the pain from losing his first love? Deion continues on his path of destruction but will the streets finally deal him a hand he can't win? As both men struggle with personal and business difficulties their once unbreakable bond seems to be on the verge of complete devastation. More lives are lost and secrets are revealed that will give only one man all the power.

Things I Wish You Knew: Poems, Letters and Text to Honor all the Broken Hearts


Evelyne Mikulicz - 2017
    Everytime, he looked at me, it broke my heart a little bit more.Everytime he went away, I wrote.When he came back, I lived again.And in the end it fell apart.

3 Summers


Lisa Robertson - 2016
    What is form's time? Here the form of life called a poem speaks with the body's mortality, its thickness, its play. The 10 poem-sequences in 3 Summers inflect a history of textual voices — Lucretius, Marx, Aby Warburg, Deleuze, the Sogdian Sutras — in a lyricism that insists on analysis and revolt, as well as the pleasures of description. The poet explores the mysterious oddness of the body, its languor and persistence, to test how it shapes the materiality of thinking, which includes rivers and forests. But in these poems' landscapes, the time of nature is inherently political. Now only time is wild, and only time — embodied here in Lisa Robertson’s forceful cadences — can tell.‘Robertson proves hard to explain but easy to enjoy. . . . Dauntlessly and resourcefully intellectual, Robertson can also be playful or blunt. . . . She wields language expertly, even beautifully.’—The New York Times‘Robertson makes intellect seductive; only her poetry could turn swooning into a critical gesture.’— The Village VoiceLisa Robertson's books include Cinema of the Present, Debbie: An Epic, The Men, The Weather, R's Boat and Occasional Works and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture. Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip was named one of The New York Times' 100 Notable Books. She lives in France.

The Vermont Notebook


John Ashbery - 2001
    This is Ashbery at his wacky best, from long lists that seem to make some sense, to short lists that seem to make no sense, to made-up diary entries. Here we find Joe Brainard's version of Americana. Combined, there is a wonderful innocence to this book that is found in the work of both of these artists. Joe Brainard's popularity is soaring to new heights as the traveling retrospective of his career captivates museum-goers throughout the United States, and this publication will be a valuable addition to the available publications of his work.

Slant Six


Erin Belieu - 2014
    In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition…. Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: “Don’t tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do.” It’s a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review“A smart and nettling book of poems — about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties — from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times"Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. '12-Step,' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza—'myself'—before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu's speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." —Booklist"From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallows of today’s America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It’s '[b]etter,' she suggests, 'to forget perfection.'" —The Boston Globe“I’ve never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn’t want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She’s just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she’s outdone herself. It’s a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book.” —Cheryl Strayed"Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."—Boston Book Review"[One] of America's finest poets."—Robert Olen ButlerErin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six, is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life—from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart.From "12-Step":I am consideringlighthousesin a completely new light—their butch neutrality, their grandbut modest surfaces.A lighthouse could appearhere at any moment.I have been making this effort,placing myself in uncomfortable positions,only for the documented health benefits . . .