Products of a Revolution
1. Lamar Complex
In 1973 a black boy
was murdered on
my Mother’s birthday
in turn, that means
every celebration
must be a memorial.
At the funeral that
means pour a shot
out of their barrels
make that dirt look
like a massacre.
At the cookout that
means slow grind
into the pelvis of
another, become
one color of fruit
punch kool-aid &
chucky ash bones.
At the reunion that
means hallow out
the missing bodies
put them in ya’ gap
teeth make that
smile remind old
folks of somebody.
At the party that
means hold ‘em close,
rub they body like
you teaching braille
til’ they become
phantom, eulogy,
carcass.
Aaliyah C. Daniels is a teen writer from Hunts Point, The Bronx. She was recently the winner of the first No Tokens Young Poets Prize and published in the No Tokens Journal. Her work has also published in 2020: The Year That Changed America Anthology, Collegian Magazine Fall 2019, and the Lucille Clifton Anthology in the 92Y publication. For two years she has been New York Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador and has performed across the city including the Brooklyn Museum, Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe, Adidas, Joe’s Pub, the Apollo stage, the Intrepid, and more. As an activist, she was president of a teen activist organization called A.C.T.I.O.N. that works to dismantle oppression in the South Bronx and was a member of the Youth Justice Board where she worked to pass legislation to protect youth from social media platforms in New York City. She is currently attending Kenyon College for the class of 2023 as an English major with an emphasis in Creative Writing and a concentration in Law. She spends much of her time outside the classroom working on her craft as a writer, and working with the Kenyon Review as an intern. In her free time, she plays video games, watches Disney/Marvel/Pixar movies, and cooks meals for her friends and family.
Edited by Christina Shideler.