Tag: poetry

Brown Sugar

When I think about poetry, there is one movie that comes to mind. It is my favorite rom-com of all time.

Wait. The Best Man is my other all-time favorite.

And The Wood.

Okay, so I have a lot of favorites, but this one is specific to poetry.

Let’s stay focused.

Released in 2002 and directed by Rick Famuyiwa (who also directed The Wood), everything about Brown Sugar is poetic to me. From the title to the opening credits, I was hooked. Still am.

Sidney and Dre are childhood best friends. Sid is an editor for XXL, a hip-hop magazine, and Dre is a producer at a record company he hates. And from the beginning, it’s all poetry.

It starts at the very beginning with that dope, nostalgic opening featuring artists like Common, Kool G Rap, Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, Big Daddy Kane, Questlove, Black Thought, Method Man, and Russell Simmons — describing how they “fell in love with hip-hop.”

My new favorite question when interviewing poets is to ask them, “When did you first fall in love with poetry?” And, to be clear: I am not asking when you first started writing it or when you were introduced to it. I am asking, when did you know you loved it? So anywho, the question comes from this movie.

Then it goes a step further, paralleling Sidney and Dre’s deep, evolving relationship with hip-hop’s growth from street culture to mainstream art.

We see this couple grow from childhood friends to lovers using hip-hop’s language and history as a central metaphor to express their unspoken feelings for one another.

On top of this, Sidney is a writer penning her first book, a love letter to hip hop.

As the movie progresses, we see that this letter serves not just as a confession of Sid’s love for the music, but also her love for Dre. Sidney’s narration is the poetry, and the poetry is hip-hop and everything in between, acting as both the main and supporting character.

Rather than presenting poetry as a fading art, movies like Love Jones and Brown Sugar show it as something embedded in how we love, speak, and make sense of the world, like an instinct woven into how we feel, remember, and connect.

So…

I am nudging an old tape recorder over to you. The reels inside give a faint rattle before my finger hovers over the record button…

When did you first fall in love with poetry?

Yecheilyah’s 8th Annual

Poetry Contest 2026

This year’s poetry contest is in full swing! Entries are being accepted as we speak.

As we are already halfway through April, and ya’ll know May is gonna fly by too, here are some reminders before June sneaks up on us:

  • When submitting your poem, please do not forget to add your name to the document! I know it sounds like common sense, but you have no idea how many times we have to send pieces back that don’t include a name.
  • Also, for this contest, your piece should be sent as a PDF or Word document.
  • By entering this contest, you retain full ownership of your work. Submission to the contest does not transfer any rights, and your poem will not be reproduced, published, or used beyond contest purposes without your explicit permission.
  • Don’t forget that your poem must touch on our theme in some way. For the full list of rules and guidelines, please click here.
  • Also, cash prizes are only the beginning! We are also doing interviews and social media promo! This is not the year to miss.

What We’re Carrying Now

This year’s theme is “What We’re Carrying Now: We are seeking poems that center on personal loss, collective memory, survival, endurance, or the emotional weight of living in today’s social and political climate.

We are looking for writing that lingers and reminds us why poetry still matters. How have you been processing this moment in history? Bring us the weight you’ve been holding. Bring us the language that knows how to hold it.

This can look like a protest or a prayer, a memory or a breaking point, a quiet confession or a bold declaration.

Examples:

  • Social/Political Climate (e.g., living through turbulent times)
  • Identity & Selfhood (e.g., what it means to carry your identity, race, gender, culture, faith, in today’s world)
  • Ancestry, Memory, Legacy (e.g., carrying the legacy of those who came before you, generational trauma/healing/strength)
  • Survival & Resilience (e.g., small acts of survival, joy, rest, boundaries)
  • Spiritual/Philosophical (e.g., Faith, purpose, or direction in uncertain times)

…and so on.

We did not always have a website for the contest, but now we do! Be sure you are bookmarking it to stay updated on all things contest-related.

Deadline to enter: June 1, 2026.

https://www.yecheilyahsannualpoetrycontest.org/

Yecheilyah’s 8th Annual Poetry Contest Judges: Estefania Lugo

Greetings, Esteemed Poets!

This week, we’ve been rolling out some of the amazing poets who are helping with this year’s contest. Up next is Estefania Lugo.

Estefanía Lugo is a brilliant bilingual creative strategist with a sharp eye for the written word.

She delights in exploring authors’ imaginations and celebrating the richness of their voices.

This contest is not just national but international, and we are honored to have  Estefanía as part of the team!

🫰🏾

If you are on Instagram, please head over to my page here and show her some love!

Reminder: This year’s poetry contest is accepting submissions from now to June 1st!

Theme: “What We’re Carrying Now.”

This theme explores personal loss, collective memory, survival, and the emotional weight of living in today’s world. Through this contest, we are not only uplifting poets, but we are also creating space for community storytelling, reflection, and connection through the arts.

Prizes:

  • 1st Place: $150 Cash Prize
  • Live Instagram Interview with Yecheilyah
  • Winning poem published on The PBS Blog at thepbsblog.com 
  • Social media promotion across all platforms
  • Unlimited bragging rights 😉

For a full list of prizes, including 2nd and 3rd place, please visit the website here.

How to Enter

  • Subscribe to the list here.
  • Read the rules and guidelines on the site.
  • Submit your poem on or before 6/1/26.

Don’t forget to visit and bookmark the website here.

Be sure you are:

Yecheilyah’s 8th Annual Poetry Contest Judges: BrinwiththePen

Greetings, Esteemed Poets!

This week, we are rolling out some of the amazing poets who are helping with this year’s contest. Up next is BrinwiththePen.

Love-centered poet Brinwiththepen inspires safety and inclusion through her poetry and the workshops she facilitates.

Brin joined Atlanta’s poetry community in 2021 and pours into the intentional time and space of writing with The Ink Refill, a monthly poetry writing workshop.

I met her in 2024 when we were both poetry features at the same event. I also got to witness her brilliance at one of her workshops.

We are honored to have Brinwiththepen and her company as part of our judges’ panel for this year’s poetry contest!

🫰🏾

Please help us welcome The Ink Refill to the team!

If you are on Instagram, please head over to @theinkrefill and show her some love!

We have more shout-outs to give. Stay glued.

Reminder: This year’s poetry contest is accepting submissions from now to June 1st!

Theme: “What We’re Carrying Now.”

This theme explores personal loss, collective memory, survival, and the emotional weight of living in today’s world. Through this contest, we are not only uplifting poets, but we are also creating space for community storytelling, reflection, and connection through the arts.

Prizes:

  • 1st Place: $150 Cash Prize
  • Live Instagram Interview with Yecheilyah
  • Winning poem published on The PBS Blog at thepbsblog.com 
  • Social media promotion across all platforms
  • Unlimited bragging rights 😉

For a full list of prizes, including 2nd and 3rd place, please visit the website here.

How to Enter

  • Subscribe to the list here.
  • Read the rules and guidelines on the site.
  • Submit your poem on or before 6/1/26.

Don’t forget to visit and bookmark the website here.

Be sure you are:

Yecheilyah’s 8th Annual Poetry Contest Judges: Joshua “Roses” Clark

Greetings, Esteemed Poets!

Today, we are rolling out some of the amazing poets who are helping with this year’s contest. Up first is Joshua Clark.

Joshua Clark, who goes by Roses, is a Dallas-based spoken word poet, creative specialist, and Texas Chapter Leader of the Poetry Business Network.

He is the CEO of Sculpted Roses Company (@sculptedrosescompany), where his team offers mental health and creative writing workshops, poetry sessions, and public speaking engagements.

We are proud to have Roses and his company as part of our judging panel for this year’s poetry contest!

🫰🏾

Please help us welcome Sculpted Roses Company to the team!

If you are on Instagram, please head over to @sculptedrosescompany and show this brother some love!

We have more shout-outs to give. Stay glued.

Reminder: This year’s poetry contest is accepting submissions from now to June 1st!

Theme: “What We’re Carrying Now.”

This theme explores personal loss, collective memory, survival, and the emotional weight of living in today’s world. Through this contest, we are not only uplifting poets, but we are also creating space for community storytelling, reflection, and connection through the arts.

Prizes:

  • 1st Place: $150 Cash Prize
  • Live Instagram Interview with Yecheilyah
  • Winning poem published on The PBS Blog at thepbsblog.com 
  • Social media promotion across all platforms
  • Unlimited bragging rights 😉

For a full list of prizes, including 2nd and 3rd place, please visit the website here.

How to Enter

  • Subscribe to the list here.
  • Read the rules and guidelines on the site.
  • Submit your poem on or before 6/1/26.

Don’t forget to visit and bookmark the website here.

Be sure you are:

Call for Submissions: Yecheilyah’s 8th Annual Poetry Contest 2026

Greetings, Esteemed Poets!

Happy Poetry Month!!

We are pleased to announce that this year’s poetry contest is now open! Submissions will remain open until June 1, 2026.

Entry: Email Subscription (Free)*

*If you are already subscribed, you can skip this step.

Theme: “What We’re Carrying Now.”

This year’s theme centers on personal loss, collective memory, survival, endurance, and/or the emotional weight of living in today’s social and political climate.

This year, we are asking poets to create a living archive of how they are processing, surviving, and making meaning in this moment in history.

What are you carrying this season? What are we carrying now?

Prizes:

  • 1st Place: $150 Cash Prize
  • Live Instagram Interview with Yecheilyah
  • Winning poem published on The PBS Blog at thepbsblog.com 
  • Social media promotion across all platforms
  • Unlimited bragging rights 😉

For a full list of prizes, including 2nd and 3rd place, please visit the website here.

How to Enter

  • Subscribe to the list here.
  • Submit your poem before 6/1/26.
  • Read the rules and guidelines on the site.

Don’t forget to visit and bookmark the website here.

Be sure you are:

Ain’t No Red Carpet for the Prophet

Revolution sounds pretty.

This polished word

makes a giddy sound,

like raising your first

or rubbing your feet together.

We quote Martin with a rhythm that swells the chest.

Malcolm’s words hum like power.

Assata’s taste like survival.

Garvey’s tickles the ear.

Lumumba’s boom like djembe drums.

Angela’s convinces the tongue that it is brave.

But no one applauds

the silence that follows a truth

told too clearly

in a world where lies

are the laws of the land.

We forget that Zora died counting coins,

her name folded small in her own purse.

Lowered into the earth without a stone to speak for her

in a segregated garden of silence

while her words, once blazing,

lay out of print like abandoned children.

We forget that revolution is only another word for change,

and change is rarely applauded in its own lifetime.

The ones who bend the arc of the world

often do it alone,

unclapped.

Revolution sounds sweet in the mouth

like a hymn rising,

like the lift of a firstborn into waiting arms,

like the soft hush of skin against skin.

But ain’t no red carpet

for the prophet.

Just dust. Truth.

And the long walk home.

This poem was inspired by an amazing podcast episode of “Our Ancestors Were Messy” about the friendship between Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes (which I’ve hinted at in my novel Renaissance), their fall-out, and what culminated in the tragic ending of a folklorist, documentarian, author, and anthropologist.

Once one of the most successful writers of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston would die in poverty in the segregated wing of a welfare home. Her body would be buried in an unmarked grave. The woman who preserved Black life faded into obscurity until she was rediscovered by Alice Walker in 1973.

Walker would resurrect Hurston’s writings and place a marker on her grave that read, “Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South.”

Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews -Cancer Courts My Mother by LindaAnn LoSchiavo

Title: Cancer Courts My Mother

Author: LindaAnn LoSchiavo

Publisher: Prolific Pulse Press LLC

Genre: Contemporary Poetry, Death, Grief, and Loss Poetry

Published: November 7, 2025

Pages: 40 pages

We live in a society with a rule we’re never taught, but somehow already know: you do not speak ill of your mother. Mothers are indeed sacred, but in this language, the rule is that mothers are beyond critique, beyond blame, untouchable. It means you are never to speak badly of them. Ever. Not in public. Not even to yourself. It’s not carved in stone or written on any wall, yet it hovers among us silent, expectant, immovable. Cancer Courts My Mother defies that silence.

These poems and stories peel back the polite mask to reveal the complicated, aching truth of loving a mother who has not always loved you well—and then being asked to care for the very person who once caused the hurt. It is bravery set to verse, honesty without apology, and the painful dance between resentment and devotion when illness becomes the final judge.

“Bad memories are cadavers that refuse burial. Instead of an archive of velveteen nostalgia, her name leaves gravel in my mouth.”

The title suggests that cancer is courting the mother, but more deeply, the illness is also courting the daughter who tells this story. In this piece, LoSchiavo is not only the narrator; she is the wounded child. As she tends to a woman who once sharpened every word into a blade, she is confronted with a new version of her mother: frail, softened by illness, gentled by morphine.

“Cancer helped adorn my mother with patience, her acidic breath pausing to accept the spoon that brought breakfast.”

The disease becomes an unwanted chaperone, pulling the daughter into an intimate dance between what was and what is—between the sting of old wounds and the strange tenderness of caring for the very person who caused them.

In the piece “Flash,” the author reveals how her breached birth changed everything.

“To hear my mother tell it, a respectful infant should politely slide from the womb.”

I felt sympathy for the daughter because one cannot control how they enter the world, and she articulates this with a raw truth in the lines, “eventually, I became a vegetarian, refusing to eat anything that had a mother.”

These kinds of powerful lines are all throughout the book, and you’ll want to sit wth them. While the book is a short, quick read, you wouldn’t want to rush through it. The words deserve to be savored for their deeper meaning.

While holding space for the daughter, I also felt empathy for the mother. I know from the testimony of family and friends that motherhood is no fairytale. I understand how a mother can lose herself to the point of resentment. I enjoyed balancing these two thoughts, and I love that the author gave me this opportunity.

As the Grim Reaper inches closer to claiming his prize, we can see how, despite the daughter’s feelings toward her mom, it is not without deep love, proving society wrong: We can tell the truth about mothers while loving them.

As KE Garland writes: “There are kind ways to characterize those we love, without denigrating them.”

The way this book is written conveyed the truth without judgment.

“When my mother died, she took home along with her.”

As someone who has also lost her mom to multiple illnesses, I sympathize with that powerful line, and it reminds me of a line from Nayyirah Waheed, who says, “My mother was my first country. the first place i ever lived.”

(The non-capitalization in Waheed’s lines is intentional.)

My only wish is to see this as a whole book, maybe a memoir, so we can have the entire experience. The poetry and the prose, the haikus, are all excellent, but it’s such a good story that I wanted to read some of it raw and without poetic decoration.

Ratings

  • Structure and Form: 4/5
  • Originality/Authentic Voice: 4/5
  • Creativity/Lyrical Content: 5/5
  • Thought Provoking: 5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Cancer Courts My Mother is Available Now on Amazon!

The Review Registry is Closed for 2025.

To Be Added to the Waitlist for 2026, please email the first chapter of your book to the email listed in our review policy with “Book Review Waitlist” in the subject line. While this does not guarantee a review, it places your book at the top of the list for consideration in the new year.

To apply for 2026, click here

Up Next: Chains of Gold by Ken Robb: Based on a True Story of Slavery During the California Gold Rush

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Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews is a reputable review service that features writers from around the world, including both traditionally and self-published authors. We are listed on Kindlepreneur as a top-tier book review blog and on Reedsy as one of their vetted active book blogs that provide insightful, excellent book reviews.

*Books are read in the order they are booked.