Straight up, I love The Poet X! Understood, I’m not the core it’s intended for, I get that, but I lifted it a summer ago, off the bookcase of my sister, a lit bum English teacher who gives me loads of good ideas, keeps me a bit hipper than a really am, she flagged this one for me. Liz Acevedo, a Dominican-American author and poet, wrote it, The Poet X! that is.
She shares stories with language I don’t know and don’t know how to use, but I love it! She, Poet X, takes me places I’ve never been, shares things I can’t comprehend, I’ve never experienced anything like them. I’m not young, like her, not a woman, like her, not Latinx, like her, but that doesn’t diminish the power of her words, the language she uses or how it moves me. What I share with Poet X is a love of telling stories based on real experiences, real memories, real people, using real language that I hope stirs feelings through a narrative poetic style, free flowing, carrying you in unexpected ways to unanticipated places, I hope and pray. Most of all I love her vulnerability, her authenticity, her badassedness! Fine, I know, that’s not a word but that's what she is, flatout. She doesn’t hold back, connecting her words and thoughts in loose verse, powerful and poignant. Time ran out on me and The Poet X! last summer, I left her halfway through her first adventure, picked it back up and finished it a few weeks ago. I intend to keep an eye on Liz, see what she does next. Until then she's given me a new conviction: keep it real and loose!
You’re one of the most real people I know. Glad I do….
Badassedness...love that!