The power structures I interrogate in my work are white supremacy, the effects of colonization on the body, gendered expectations of womanhood, and the English language. I tend to start my work through the confessional mode, and work to widen my speaker’s gaze to capture her political and cultural landscape in addition to her own reflection.

A sustainable writing practice requires a community. My dedication to poetry moves beyond my writing practice toward connection with those around me, whether that be physically or through a sustained commitment to writing. I consistently work to create communities for people, like myself, who may not have had access to poetry growing up. My goals as a teacher, editor, and poet are to bring poetry and creative expression to places where it might be unexpected.

Some of my earliest introductions to poetry were through Black feminist activists, namely June Jordan and Lucille Clifton. Their language opened up new understandings of poetry and radical love. Other poets that influence me through the act of witnessing the political include Solmaz Sharif (“America, ignore the window and look at your lap”) and Denise Levertov (“The poets must give us imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar imagination of disaster”).