“Hayes is one elegant poet. First you’ll marvel at his skill, his near-perfect pitch, his disarming humor, his brilliant turns of phrase. Then you’ll notice the grace, the tenderness.” – Cornelius Eady
“A book like no other. . . his range, like his original music, is that of a bold virtuoso . . . the imaginative logic in these poems is irrefutable.” – The Los Angeles Times
“Here is a brilliant and compassionate poet inventing new doorways for the heart.” – Toi Derricotte
Hip LogicLorde
I. At the First Clear Word
Emcee
Touch
The Things-No-One-Knows Blues
ARS Poetica #789
Hip Logic
Sonnet
Mr. T-
Shaft and the Enchanted Shoe Factory or ARS Poetica: The Epic Quest for Language
Squawk
Butter
Origin of the Days
Gospel of the Two Sisters
II. A Gram of &s
Abductor
Although
Ambulance
Apothecary
Beckoned
Bowling
Breathe
Careless
Corporal
Example
III. Conjure
Friday Poem
For Paul Robeson
Diego Rivera – Dama de Blanco, 1939
For Robert Hayden
Broken Dangerfield Newby Villanelle
William H. Johnson
Ode to Balthus
The Gulf Stream/Four Studies
Sleeping Woman
Still Music
IV. A Gram of &s
Gander
General
Masculine
Nuclear
Overseas
Preface
Repaid
Saintly
Segregate
Stupor
Toenails
V. The Law of Falling and Catching Up
Fire
Gun/Woman/Son
Heartthrob
Mother and Son
Blues Procession
Florida
The Flame
Ode to Stone
Alter Call
Autumn
The Same City
Notes
Acknowledgments
