Inclined to Speak

Midwest Book Review

Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry collects works from a diversity of contemporary Arab American poets. The poems themselves cover a deep range of subjects, from culture and politics to art, language, loss, and the foibles of the human condition. Most poems are free-verse; each author's work is prefaced with a brief biography spanning one-third to one-half of a page. The result is an eclectic and broad-reaching compilation that challenges the reader to rethink his or her perspective concerning what it truly means to be an American. Highly recommended. "Mayfly (for Esme)": You have the right to / be delicate, transparent / yet still / flatten yourself against / the strong current // appear as if / you're caught in mid-swarm / when you are singularly // flying toward the light.
by Detroit poet ALISE ALOUSI

Alise Alousi is an Iraqi-American poet. Her work has been published in the journals Dispatch Detroit, Alternative Press, Graffiti Rag and The Monthly Review among others, as well as in the anthologies: Abandon Automobile, Poets Against War, and I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You. She has worked with children and teens for over fifteen years, most recently as a writer - in - residence in the Detroit Public Schools through the Inside/ Out Literary Arts Project.