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63 Notes “Exit Wounds – An Interlude.” This poem draws on material from Mikal Gilmore’s memoir about his brother’s execution titled Shot in the Heart. “Rose M. Singer.” The poem’s title is drawn from the Rose M. Singer Center, a women’s prison on Riker’s Island. “Evidence.” The poem’s title is borrowed from Luc Sante’s book Evidence, which contains 55 crime scene photos from New York City police archives. “Buddha’s Robes.” The poem excerpts lines from Red Pine’s translation of The Diamond Sutra. “White Power.” The poem contains lines from The Gospel of Thomas. “Finding Lola Savannah.” The poem contains a reference to Lola Savannah, a coffee company in Houston, Texas. “Crazy Horse & Bondage.” The poem owes a debt to Peter Matthiessen’s book In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. “Psalm of Sambo.” The Story of Little Black Sambo was a children’s 64 book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and was first published in 1899. In 1932, Langston Hughes called it a typical “pickaninny” storybook that was hurtful to black children. “Strange Fruit on Bourbon Street.” The poem draws certain details from the 1984 film Tightrope starring Clint Eastwood. “Metallica Burns on the Altar of the Viking Rockstar.” This poem was inspired in part by the 2004 Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster. “’Bama Barbershop.” The poem references Jerry Washington’s blues radio show “The ’Bama Hour,” which aired on WPFW, a local radio station in Washington, D.C. ...

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