Abstract
Original Kink: Poems is an exercise in unmaking ‘masculinity’ – it’s a conversation with the author’s father, family, country, & everyone who’s ever tried to dictate what black manhood ought to be. The author steers the reader through an experience of his youth, where manhood & masculinity were equated not only with strength but with violence, to his coming to the contradictory understanding that any display of strength in his black body of constitutes an external threat in this place & time. Filtering these myths through the lens of queerness, the author – & the reader – are left to grapple with the fluidity of masculinity, gender, & sexuality. The author challenges the reader to locate the joy in piecing together the ‘who’ they want to be in this ‘here’ & ‘now.’