Summary

“Los Angeles Barrio Sonnet for Wanda Coleman” - This poem is dedicated to a “Word-Caster of Live Coals of Love, RIP.” The first part of this poem is a stream-of-consciousness paragraph, celebrating the efforts of Wanda Coleman to encourage and inspire the young people of the barrio. Parts of it contain capitals: “…what was this American thing of Race against Race you said what was this under-realm where we tango in desire & headless hate & unborn & the fire wheels inside the blood the bliss.” The second part of the poem is written in a fragmented single stanza describing a night-time dance “in gratitude / we stand & rise” (34).

“Hard Hooks that Fold You Down to Your Knees” - This poem is “for Jack Gilbert, RIP.” The first person speaker writes, in a paragraph constructed with capitals and punctuation, of a conversation with a friend first...