Heavy Is the Head
Black women poets matter in ways that poets of other races and ethnicities can’t: “Black girl must write poetry so other black girls can relate.” That Black girl poetry readers matter … do you understand? This debut collection from Sumaya Enyegue, a medical student from South Africa, is matter-of-factly accomplished and compelling.
[WHEN A BLACK GIRL DIES, THE LAST THING TO DECOMPOSE IS HER HEART.]
There are moments when I forget I am not wanted and then someone
calls me a nigger and the memory slaps me awake. I have been brown
for a thousand lifetimes and yet the violence of this skin still surprises
me—how can it bruise so easily and still keep the scars hidden. And
I could write you an ocean of poems about how I was taught that you
could be black or you could be beautiful, but you couldn’t be both.
Why can’t I be both?
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
