Bloodwarm

Author: Taylor Byas Publisher: Variant Literature (2021) Bloodwarm is a collection that explores what it’s like to live in a Black body that is constantly scrutinized and dissected beneath the white gaze. These poems both utilize and reinvigorate classic poetic forms with a voice that speaks back to the mob that hunts it. This book is an act of rebellion, an assertion of worth, a will to live. "There is no escaping. There is no hiding. There is only you and the page and the hauntings in which Taylor Byas brings forth in each poem. Bloodwarm is a book that chills the spine, yes, but also meditates on the now. We are at a gas station. We are on Twitter. We are leaving a voicemail for Madam C.J. Walker. Through rhythm, repetition, and rapport, Byas weaves together poems that will decor the night while we sit in the dark corner counting to ten, then screaming 'ready or not, here I come.' And although we seek, it is her words that find us." –Luther Hughes "Taylor Byas gets to the bone of it