#malcolm friend

[lifeinpoetry]

as if / you could hide a gun / in your bones / every cell / is a weapon / every atom / is resisting arrest

Malcolm Friend, from “This Is an Exhumation,” published in The Blueshift Journal

[malcolmfriendpoet]

Y’all, I got three new poems up on Winter Tangerine Review as part of their Lineage of Mirrors feature: “Bomba-Blues Dream Sequence,” “Bomba-Blues Noise Report,” and “The Bomba Man and The Blues Man Argue over Who Has to Bury Malcolm’s Body.” I’ve also got a short essay on Tato Laviera and his influence on my work, Julian Randall wrote an amazing Editor’s Note to accompany the poems.

[malcolmfriendpoet]

Y’all, I got a new poem in City Arts Magazine. Check it out!

[malcolmfriendpoet]

Malcolm Friend Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo, ...

Yo, I’ve got a new poem up in the latest issue of The Collagist!

[ukdamo]

Caliban Theory

Malcolm Friend

    — after Beenie Man and Derek Walcott

who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m the cramped quarters             of any vessel voyaging the sea             with contraband and trafficked cargo who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m the rum barrel hollowed out             and beaten into percussion who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m a pidgin picking its way             into a creole—any savage tongue             consumed again and again             until it can be repeated who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m the plátano deep frying sweet             in oil or i’m the plátano fry-smash-             fried into tostones who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m the hibiscus steamed             with ginger and sugar             and allspice and clove who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m a field song morphing             out each new generation’s lips who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m the pilón smashing             plátano and garlic and chicarrón             into mofongo or i’m the pilón             grinding allspice and clove             and fennel and cinnamon into a jerk who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m this tripped-up tongue             tryna wind its way through             english, spanish, and patois             smashed and ground-up together who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m sugarcane fields burnt or i’m             the the scotch bonnet burn             in the curry chicken or             i’m the ron añejo burning             its way down the throat who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m a poco man jam             morphing into a dembow who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m the poems chanted             over and over on the slave ship             until they all mishmash smashed             into a whole new song who am i?                   who am i?                   who am i?             either i’m nobody or             i’m all of the nations             or i am no nation or i’m a             singular, ephemeral nation—             the one i sing into being with this             savage tongue, the one that disappears             as soon as the sound stops shaking             in the ocean salt air

[www-suzannerichardsonwrites]

What I'm Reading Now ... by Suzanne Richardson | Tarpaulin Sky Magazine

At Tarpaulin Sky Magagazine, Suzanne Richardson discusses books by Casandra López, Lacy M. Johnson, Malcolm Friend, and Jenifer Sang Eun Park.

[malcolmfriendpoet]

BECAUSE MOM DOESN’T SING EVERY SONG BY THE TEMPTATIONS Must be something bad in his blood. Did you feel it— his hands tugging at my scalp when Derek put you on the phone? Did your neck rubber…

I’ve got a new poem in the latest issue of The Boiler Journal!

[malcolmfriendpoet]

Check out Label Me Latina/o’s special issue on afrolatinidad. I’ve got a poet centered around Tite Curet Alonso in here!