No Sleep Is to Be Had Here
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- No Sleep Is to Be Had Here
Some homes have housedtoo many wall drawings,fractured bowlsand scraped knees, too muchmisplaced cutleryand stained linen, too manycoughing spells,drenched pillows, whiskey spills,awkward waltzes, grunts,staircase spills, radiator burnsand gasps for airto ever truly silence the creakingthat keeps you awake,wondering what howlyou will leave in the cupboard.What whispers will you buryin the cellar? What warningshould be carved above the lintelfor the many selves I will hushand then carry under it? [End Page 78]
JAMAAL MAY is a poet and editor from Detroit, MI. His first book, Hum (Alice James Books), received the Beatrice Hawley Award, the American Library Association’s Notable Book Award, and an NAACP Image Award nomination. Other honors include the Indiana Review Prize, the Spirit of Detroit Award, and the Stadler Fellowship. Most recently, Jamaal has been awarded Rose O’Neill Literary House’s 2014 Cave Canem Residency, the 2014–2016 Kenyon Review Fellowship, and a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship in Italy. Jamaal’s poems appear in such publications as The New Republic, The Believer, Poetry, Ploughshares, NYTimes.com, and Best American Poetry 2014. With Tarfia Faizullah, he co-directs the Organic Weapon Arts Chapbook and Video Series.
