Full Description
A memorable debut collection that explores colonial and generational trauma.
In this striking debut, Dorsía Smith Silva explores the devastating effects of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico, highlighting the natural world, the lasting impact of hurricanes, and the marginalization of Puerto Ricans. These poems also focus on the multiple sites of oppression in the United States, especially the racial, social, and political injustices that occur every day. Smith Silva writes with a powerful, gripping voice, confronting the "drowning" of disenfranchised communities as they are displaced, exploited, and robbed of their identities, but remain resilient. Written with unflinching language and vivid imagery, In Inheritance of Drowning reveals the many facets of the lives of marginalized people.
Contents
BY HURRICANE
What the Poet is Supposed to Write about a Hurricane
First Poem Before Hurricanes
The Awakening of Hurricane María
Litany
In Search of Space (After Hurricane María)
The Bee
Driving in Puerto Rico (After Hurricane María)
My Grandmother's Photo
Antés/Después Huracán María
The Q and A Section
When you tap the muscle memory of the blue tarp
Cyclone #9
Promises
Hurricane
BY EVERYTHING ELSE
Drowning in 5 Parts
In Inheritance of Drowning
A Response to What Happens before We Drown
Archive of Green
La Peluquería
Street Meditation
Ghost Talker Poem
Dark Matter
Everyday Drowning
For the black woman that has laundry lists of tears
Mad Love for Philly
Decussate
Shame in the Shade of Blue
They came for us
Columbus 2020
PROMESA
Memories of Cane
[1st] Upon Arrival
While Black
Living in Puerto Rico is as Close as I Can Get to Living
in the United States
Cleanliness
Spent
Doctors on Television Recommend Booster Shots because
the Pandemic is Far from Being Over
Token
How I Lost My Name
Becoming American
Return
Where Loss Begins at the Border
BY HURRICANE REVISITED
REM: A Case Study
Poem Written Upon Returning to My Home after a Hurricane
Hurricane María Countdown
