Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the editors of the following publications in which some of these poems first appeared.

All Female Menu Magazine: “Heirloom”; Anatomy of Silence Anthology: “Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat”; Anchor Magazine: “Black Boy Painted as Butterfly”; Brave New Voice: “Horticulture”; Damaged Goods Anthology: “Mackerel”; Dancing Bears Anthology: “Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat”; Glass Poetry: “Mermaids and Ghost Ships”; Hellebore: “Black Boy Painted as Butterfly,” “Horticulture”; Homology Lit: “Reclaiming Our Phenomenal Bones”; Honey and Lime Mag: “Body Apology”; Luna Luna: “Tea Party at the Cemetery”; Maria y Sampaguitas: “Skyscraper Women”; Obsidian: “Pastoral Blues” (Gwendolyn Brooks Prize Finalist); PANK Special Edition: “Livestock”; Sundog Lit: “Livestock”; Terse Journal: “Bone Collector,” “Mad Black Bird”; Tishman Review: “Van Gogh Paints a Hymn”; and Voicemail Poetry Contest Winner: “Exit Speech.”

Many thanks also to Tell Tell Poetry and Gretchen Rockwell for helping to format my pieces.

So many thanks to my heroes, Ada Limón and Claudia Rankine who helped me find the language to craft these pieces. Thank you for guiding me on this never-ending journey of becoming. Many thanks to my coeditor, Safia Ehillo, for your keen eye and attention to detail. Thank you for your time and patience. To my readers: Caitlin Taylor—my best friend, Joy Priest, Faylita Hicks, and Maya Marshall, you are fierce poetry warriors, and I am so honored to have learned and grown from you. To my second-round readers: Nadia G, Jeni De La O, Jihyun Yun, and Zora Satchell. I am forever your sister and friend.

To my mentor: Dasan Ahanu and other mentors, thank you for your support and encouragement to finish this book and fight to do what I love for a living. To the N.C. A&T English Department and the Queens University MFA program, thank you for providing a space for writers and learners, and giving me soil to birth this dream.

To my eternal love, steadfast friend, lifeline, and husband, Eric: this would not have been possible without your hands, your mind, and listening ear. Thank you for believing that I could, even when I doubted. Thank you for burning the midnight oil with me.

To friends and family—chosen and birth: thank you for always supporting me and cheering me on from near and far places. To mom and Niki: thank you for seeing me + loving me in big and small ways.

To Athenian: thank you for reminding me that my voice is louder than oppression. That who I am is okay to be at all times. To never silence myself or compromise my worth, even when all odds are against me. We were evidence of what is possible.

Thank you to all the journals that have published my work. I am forever grateful.

To the ghost still haunting: I release you.