by Ross Gay
First published 2023
Lucille opens her collection with thirty-nine different names for light, but the most important name becomes her own. She writes from the center of a Black woman's experience, moving between intimate family trauma and cosmic encounters. Her father's sexual violations cast long shadows through her childhood memories. The bombing of her neighborhood becomes another wound she must transform into words. Death visits repeatedly, taking people she loves and forcing her to wrestle with loss. Yet Lucille refuses to let darkness win. She imagines herself carrying the world's burden alongside Atlas. She eavesdrops on arguments between Lucifer and God, finding her own voice in their eternal debate. Her poems reject Superman as any kind of savior. Instead, she celebrates the Black woman who chooses to keep living despite everything trying to destroy her. Each poem becomes an act of creation, building a life worth celebrating from the raw materials of pain and joy.
Genres: biography, african-american, contemporary, poetry, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, lyrical
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-adversity
Setting: Black Neighborhood
Period: Contemporary
96 pages · Hardcover · Copper Canyon Press
Content warnings: abuse, death, sexual-assault