Kin
Poems
Publication Year: 2000
In her first book-length collection of poetry, Crystal Williams utilizes memory and music as she lyrically weaves her way through American culture, pointing to the ways in which alienation, loss, and sensed "otherness" are corollaries of recent phenomena. Williams writes about being adopted by an interracial couple, a jazz pianist/Ford Foundry worker and a school psychologist, and how that has affected her development as an African American woman. She tries to work out the answers to many difficult questions: in what way do African American artists define themselves? What do they owe the culture and what does it owe them? To what extent does our combined national memory inform our individual selves? These poems are steeped in the black literary tradition. They are brimming over with the oral tradition that Williams perfected while spending years on the poetry "slam" circuit. This, combined with her musical upbringing, give the collection not only a sense of urgency, but also a rhythm, a breath all its own. Kin tackles not only racial issues, but also the troubling realities of violent acts that can occur, especially in our inner cities. But more importantly, the landscape that Williams creates offers readers an alternative to the racial/political dichotomy in which we all live. Overall, the book resonates with a message of reconciliation that will leave the reader uplifted.
Published by: Michigan State University Press
Contents
Download PDF (33.4 KB)
pp. ix-x
Acknowledgments
Download PDF (64.4 KB)
pp. xi-xii
The following poems or versions of these poems have appeared in: A Gathering of the Tribes ("Once Upon A Time"); African Voices ("Collard Folk"); Beyond the Frontier ("In Search of Aunt Jemima"); Catch the Fire: A Cross-Generational Anthology of African American Poets ("In Search of Aunt Jemima"); Icarus...
rhythm
For the Woman Who Didn’t Know My Name
Download PDF (25.6 KB)
pp. 1-
music: one
The Famous Door
Download PDF (18.0 KB)
pp. 5-
Prayer
Download PDF (45.6 KB)
pp. 6-7
The Masked Woman
Download PDF (57.2 KB)
pp. 8-9
At 25, I Have Already Begun to Like Lou Rawls
Download PDF (29.9 KB)
pp. 10-11
Yea, Though I Walk
Download PDF (41.6 KB)
pp. 12-13
Order of Adoption in the Matter of Minor #44478
Download PDF (36.9 KB)
pp. 14-15
music: two
Rites of Passage
Download PDF (41.2 KB)
pp. 19-20
Poem for My Sisters
Download PDF (25.5 KB)
pp. 21-
A,
Download PDF (36.9 KB)
pp. 22-23
Hey A, (Mr. Sausage Lips)
Download PDF (26.6 KB)
pp. 24-25
Johnny
Download PDF (40.6 KB)
pp. 26-27
Dreadlock
Download PDF (17.3 KB)
pp. 28-
Exercise in Tension or Truth or Whatever
Download PDF (39.5 KB)
pp. 29-30
“The Cholesterol Can Make You Stupid”
Download PDF (23.9 KB)
pp. 31-
Collard Folk
Download PDF (50.4 KB)
pp. 32-33
dance
Dr�
Download PDF (52.1 KB)
pp. 37-38
Benjamin
Download PDF (28.3 KB)
pp. 39-40
The Prospect of Tomi-Terre
Download PDF (36.9 KB)
pp. 41-42
Curating the Boogie Down
Download PDF (44.3 KB)
pp. 43-44
Tour Guiding Our Nation’s Capital
Download PDF (21.5 KB)
pp. 45-
Sunday Dinner at Miss Rayella’s
Download PDF (38.0 KB)
pp. 46-47
Tower
Download PDF (26.0 KB)
pp. 48-
“It Wasn’t Not Funny”
Download PDF (39.1 KB)
pp. 49-50
Refrigerator Mouth
Download PDF (29.0 KB)
pp. 51-
As On Every Saturday at 12
Download PDF (40.1 KB)
pp. 52-53
John Edgar Wideman, Apologies
Download PDF (37.3 KB)
pp. 54-55
The First Time I Saw Flo-Jo
Download PDF (36.6 KB)
pp. 56-57
Once Upon a Time
Download PDF (110.0 KB)
pp. 58-61
Nora
Download PDF (17.6 KB)
pp. 62-
Zawadi
Download PDF (53.7 KB)
pp. 63-64
oo-bop-she-bam
In Search of Aunt Jemima
Download PDF (86.7 KB)
pp. 67-69
Ode of the Hoodoo Woman
Download PDF (83.0 KB)
pp. 70-73
Breeze Driftin’ On By
Download PDF (39.5 KB)
pp. 74-75
Notes
Download PDF (40.9 KB)
pp. 76-
About the Author
Download PDF (18.2 KB)
pp. 77-
Crystal Williams, a native of Detroit, Michigan, holds a B.A. from NYU and a M.F.A. from Cornell University. Her work has been published in journals/anthologies such as Icarus, The Potomac Review, Spectrum, WV, American Poetry: The Next Generation, Catch the Fire, Poetry Nation, and Children of the Dream. She was a member of the 1995...
E-ISBN-13: 9780870139680
Print-ISBN-13: 9780870135484
Page Count: 88
Publication Year: 2000
