"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations.  When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence.  When power corrupts, poetry cleanses."  John F. Kennedy


TABLE OF CONTENTS BY THEME

one | Appreciation

Ain't Got No  
Club Banger #1: Invocation/Shout Out  
Club Banger #3: Defining Your Generation  
Ode To  
Odes  
Epistles to Music  
Eulogies – Before I Leave the Stage  
Love Poem to Myself  
The Greatest Exaggeration  
Questions for _____, From _____

two | Art

A Thousand Words  
Objects in Love  
Questions for _____, From _____

three | Body Image

This is Not a Workshop  
Love Poem to Myself

four | Developing Stories/Storytelling

First Thing’s First  
Realist Portraiture  
The Poetics of Post-Industrialism  
A Thousand Words  
Far Ahead of its Time  
Becoming a Legend  
Don’t You Forget About Me  
Love is a Metaphor  
Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil!  
The Greatest Exaggeration  
The Art of “How To”  
Why I am the Way I am  
Remember That Time

five | Editing

Flip the Script

six | Personal Experiences

What It’s Like to Be Me  
This is Not a Workshop  
First Thing’s First  
Ode To  
Personism  
Dear Me, From Me  
Don’t You Forget About Me  
Eulogies – Before I Leave the Stage  
Love is a Metaphor  
Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil!  
Buzzing Blue  
Code Switching  
Hi, My Name Is  
Remember That Time

seven | Perspective

Personification and the Inanimate Audible  
Persona Me; Persona You  
Far Ahead of its Time  
Objects in Love  
Questions for _____, From _____

eight | Gender & Sexuality

What It’s Like to Be Me

nine | Identity

Where I’m From  
What It’s Like to Be Me  
This is Not a Workshop  
Our Language is Poetic Language  
Resisting Colonialism  
Dear Me, From Me  
Love Poem to Myself  
Creating Self Portraits  
Code Switching  
Hi, My Name Is  
Why I Am the Way I Am  
Microaggressions

ten | Poems

Personism  
Epistles to Music

eleven | Manipulating English

This is Not a Workshop  
A Cliché by Any Other Name  
A Perhaps Poem  
A Metaphor by Any Other Name  
Wait a Second…Oh, Got It

twelve | Origins

Where I’m From  
Our Language is Poetic Language  
Resisting Colonialism  
Code Switching  
Why I Am the Way I Am

thirteen | Portraits

Club Banger #3: Defining Your Generation  
What It’s Like to Be Me  
This is Not a Workshop  
Realist Portraiture  
Persona Me; Persona You  
Creating Self Portraits

fourteen | Race & Culture

What It’s Like to Be Me  
Resisting Colonialism  
Code Switching  
Hi, My Name Is  
Microagressions

fifteen | Setting

Where I’m From  
The Corner

sixteen | Social Issues

Club Banger #2: The Utopian Future World  
Who Wanna Battle  
Resisting Colonialism  
Battle Poems  
Manifestos & Essentials  
Flip the Script  
Microagressions

seventeen | Venting

Who Wanna Battle  
Battle Poems  
Microaggressions


TABLE OF CONTENTS BY LITERARY DEVICE

one | Alliteration

Where I’m From

two | Allusion

Becoming a Legend

three | Ambiguity

Wait a Second…Oh, Got It

four | Anachronism

Far Ahead of its Time

five | Anaphora & Parallelism

Where I’m From  
Ain’t Got No  
Club Banger #1: Invocation/Shout Out  
Club Banger #2: The Utopian Future World  
Club Banger #3: Defining Your Generation  
What It’s Like to Be Me  
This Is Not a Workshop  
Dear Me, From Me  
Love Poem to Myself

six | Apostrophe

Who Wanna Battle

seven | Cliché

A Cliché By Any Other Name

eight | Diction

Where I’m From  
Our Language Is Poetic Language  
First Thing’s First  
A Perhaps Poem  
Dear Me, From Me  
The Art of “How To"

nine | Hyperbole

Ode To  
Persona Me; Persona You  
The Greatest Exaggeration

ten | Idiom

A Cliché By Any Other Name

eleven | Imagery

Where I’m From  
This Is Not a Workshop  
First Thing’s First  
Ode To  
Realist Portraiture  
Personism  
Personification and the Inanimate Audible  
Resisting Colonialism  
The Poetics of Post-Industrialism  
The Corner  
A Thousand Words  
Dear Me, From Me  
Don’t You Forget About Me  
Buzzing Blue

twelve | Metaphor

What It’s Like to Be Me  
This Is Not a Workshop  
A Cliché By Any Other Name  
Ode to  
A Metaphor By Any Other Name  
Dear Me, From Me  
Don’t You Forget About Me  
Eulogies – Before I Leave the Stage  
Love is a Metaphor
 

thirteen | Mood/Atmosphere/Tone

Ain’t Got No  
Club Banger #3: Defining Your Generation  
What It’s Like to Be Me  
Who Wanna Battle  
First Thing’s First  
Realist Portraiture  
Personism  
A Thousand Words  
Battle Poems  
Odes  
Manifestos & Essentials  
Flip the Script  
Epistles to Music  
Dear Me, From Me  
Eulogies – Before I Leave the Stage

fourteen | Odes

Ode To  
Odes

fifteen | Personification

Personification and the Inanimate Audible  
The Greatest Exaggeration  
Buzzing Blue  
Objects in Love  
Questions for _____ from _____

sixteen | Poetic Forms

Who Wanna Battle (Haiku/Couplet)  
Resisting Colonialism (Fractured)  
Eulogies – Before I Leave the Stage (Haiku)  
The Art of “How To” (How To)

seventeen | Point of View & Perspective

Who Wanna Battle  
First Thing’s First  
Personism  
A Thousand Words  
Manifestos & Essentials  
Flip the Script  
Epistles to Music  
Persona Me; Persona You  
Autobiography of a Year  
Far Ahead of Its Time  
Eulogies – Before I Leave the Stage  
Code Switching  
Objects in Love  
Questions for ____, From ____

eighteen | Rhyme

Who Wanna Battle

nineteen | Setting

The Corner

twenty | Simile

A Perhaps Poem  
Don’t You Forget About Me

twenty one | Structure

Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil!  
Wait a Second…Oh, Got It  
The Art of “How To"  
Why I Am the Way I Am  
Remember That Time

twenty two | Symbol

Personification and the Inanimate Audible  
A Metaphor By Any Other Name

twenty three | Synesthesia

Creating Self Portraits  
Buzzing Blue

twenty four | Syntax

Ain’t Got No  
A Perhaps Poem

twenty five | Vernacular/Dialect/Colloquialism

Where I’m From  
Our Language Is Poetic Language  
Code Switching