Machado beautifully expresses what happens when we are present to life without the distractions that hijack our hearts and minds.
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CLEAR ALL
The son of a “black” father and a “white” mother, Thomas Chatterton Williams found himself questioning long-held convictions about race upon the birth of his blond-haired, blue-eyed daughter―and came to realize that these categories cannot adequately capture either of them, or anyone else.
Clifton’s poems owe a great deal to oral tradition. Her work is wonderfully musical and benefits greatly from being read aloud: “It is hard to remain human on a day/ when birds perch weeping/ in the trees and the squirrel eyes/ do not look away but the dog ones do/ in pity.