Poems for Caribbean American Heritage Month

“Soy Boricua” by Giannina Braschi
Soy boricua. In spite of my family and in spite of my country—I’m writing...

“from Mesongs” by Kamau Brathwaite
And suddenly you was talking trees...

“Plácido’s Farewell to His Mother” by Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, translated by James Weldon Johnson
⁠If the unfortunate fate engulfing me...

“Childhood in the Latin Caribbean” by Victor Hernández Cruz
I was child mountain / lived in a Latin American country...

“Archipelago” by Kendel Hippolyte
If you really see the Caribbean archipelago, you will see yourself...

“Roof Nightclub” by Ishion Hutchinson
First, above all, I live forever...

“The Leopard” by Yusef Komunyakaa
She feels the shape of another animal...

“No Ruined Stone” by Shara McCallum
When the dead return / they will come to you in dream...

“Two-An’-Six” by Claude McKay
Merry voices chatterin’...

“Ferrum [excerpt]” by M. NourbeSe Philip
s no s              laves s                in nest/s with...

“Entonces Mi Hija/ Then My Daughter” by Mara Pastor, translated by María José Giménez and Anna Rosenwong
Turned to her toys and said / the first to realize...

“Witch Hindu” by Shivanee Ramlochan
curry nipple / shrapnel bindi / lassi whiplash / lengha language...

“After David Hammons” by Claudia Rankine
In the darkened moment a body gifted...

“The Sea Is History” by Derek Walcott
Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs? ...