"I'm not sure where this poem came from, honestly. Not all sources are known. My job is to follow Her lead. I do know I'm trying to find a new language, or I should say a new English—one that both acknowledges the historical ruin inherent in English, but—because of that ruin—is also a vast open space. I like the ashes. I'm always trying to talk about blackness from the inside. I'm not interested in ‘race’ at all. Race is a fetish, and not a very compelling one. I am, however, madly in love with my culture. In this poem, and others, I'm trying to find a way to make English bow to that love."