When I Waked, I Cried to Dream Again

The bold and imaginative fifth collection from Van Jordan (The Cineaste) explores the Black experience, framed by the spectral presence of Black characters lifted from Shakespeare’s plays. The narrative is not a mere echo of Shakespeare’s tales, but a daring reinterpretation that chronicles the tragic death of Tamir Rice, who was killed by a police officer in 2014. In a poignant sequence, Jordan reconstructs a historiography, summoning the spirits of fallen Black sons to forge a new tradition that does not flinch from the harsh realities of racial injustice but confronts them head-on in lyrical prose. “What, then, could you be threatened by, seeing a twelve-year-old Black boy standing in front of you?” Jordan inquires. He assures that “a storm will pass—whether you want it to or not. Storms prey on a moment in life, a moment that makes a soul self-conscious of the body in which it’s housed.” These pages suggest that poets are guardians of shared history, preserving narratives that might otherwise fade into oblivion. The past and present intersect unexpectedly and vibrantly in this exceptional volume that offers a future written in the ink of hope and resilience. (Apr.)