voice of incoming 2 express train
pray herself altar
contort mouth shotgun:
sawed off a saw
soften tongue songbird
hands mosaicked mirrors
donning skin like battle gear
dawning skin like evening gown
this name pinned on her shoulders;
a heavy mantle. an incantation.
Elizabeth Acevedo is the New York Times bestselling author of Clap When You Land (2020), With the Fire on High (2019), and The Poet X (2018), all from HarperCollins.
By Elizabeth Acevedo
the slight angling up of the forehead
neck extension quick jut of chin
meeting the strangers’ eyes
a gilded curtsy to the sunfill in another
in yourself tithe of respect
in an...
By Elizabeth Acevedo
it was always the older kids
running to Riverside,
hiding behind trees and underneath
jungle gyms, holding their breath
in the darkness as the other team
tried to find them.
I could not wait to be old enough;
a captor’s arms clasping.
Manhunt, manhunt 1, 2, 3.
This poem...
