The Geez

** A POETRY BOOK SOCIETY RECOMMENDATION ** LONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE ** FEATURES GUARDIAN POEM OF THE WEEK, Blowing Smoke A stunning new collection from Nii Ayikwei Parkes, featuring poems which embrace play, love and the ephemeral such as water bodies, blood/heritage, history and gossip; and a healthy dose of music and popular culture. The Geez navigates the blurred lines between age and youth; the real and the imagined; what is seen and what is — what catches the gaze and what lies beneath. Conceived in four sections, the collection moves from play, to love, to gossip and - finally - to explorations of the intersections of self and contemporary culture, including a segment inspired by blues legends, riffing on the myth of the crossroads, as well as an eleven-part love letter to the African diaspora — specifically African-Americans, whose sacrifices have contributed to the...