I am grateful for my family, without whom I would not exist. To my sisters, Ruquia Asghar and Khudejha Asghar, for being the strongest women I know. For Aunty Kaniz and Uncle Fuzzy, who loved me when they didn’t have to. For my bajis: Neelo, Amina, and Fauzia. And for Farhan Bai.
For my parents, Ghazalah Kausar Asghar and Ghulam Malik Asghar. I only wish for your love. I hope I make you proud.
For Dark Noise, my bloodriders. You make me proud to walk beside you. For Nicholas Ward, who read every draft of every poem.
To my mentors: Tarfia Faizullah, Jamaal May, Thalia Field, Catherine Imbriglio, Besenia Rodriguez, Rachel McKibbens, Krista Franklin, Ross Gay, Patricia Smith, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Douglas Kearney. Thank you for your belief and for pushing me to be better.
Thank you to the One World Team: Nicole Counts, Christopher Jackson, and Victory Matsui. A special thanks to Nicole Counts, who held me through every step of this book. This book would not have been possible without you.
To my friends, who looked over this book with so much attention and painstaking detail: Danez Smith, Phillip B. Williams, Kevin Coval, Ray McDaniel, Nate Marshall, Franny Choi, Aaron Samuels, Hieu Nguyen, and Jamila Woods. Thank you to 3Arts Entertainment, to my manager, Jermaine Johnson, and my agents, Rachel Kim and Richard Abate. Thank you to my lawyers at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, Amy Nickin and Michael Williams.
To my kin, for keeping me strong: Sam Bailey, Vince Martell, Teodora Kaltcheva, Jaspreet Kaur, Nabila Hossain, Rehan Siddiqui, Becca Evans, Marilyn Paschal, Safia Elhillo, H. Melt, Sarah Coakley, Angel Nafis, Hanif Abdurraqib, Kaveh Akbar, Safiyah Sinclair, Mo Browne, Sam Sax, Cam Awkward-Rich, Malcolm Shanks, Eve Ewing, Jayson Smith, VyVy Trinh, Laura Brown-Lavoie, Jess X. Chen, Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye, Amina Sheikh, Ceci Pineda, José Olivarez, Marco Lambooy, Jasmin Panjeta, Jonah Mixon-Webster, Raych Jackson, Kush Thompson, Dimress Dunnigan, Britteney Kapri, Jacqui Germain, Amy Sewick, Mina Zachkary, and Adam Kiki-Charles. Thank you to Don Share, Kyle Dargan, and Hayan Charara for believing in my work, even when I struggled to believe. Thank you to Kundiman, to the Poetry Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony, University of Michigan, and New Harmony Writers Workshop for giving me the time, support, and space I needed to complete this book.
To everyone else whom I have met, who has influenced me, and who has been there, thank you.